More milestones were reached this last month as some of our teenagers and young adults graduated from junior and senior high school, vocational school and vocational college. Eight teenage boys and girls finished junior high school (grade 9) on March 10 and had a lovely graduation ceremony at Rosario Witthaya school. Six will continue onto senior high school, one to vocational school and one boy wants to start working, as academia is not for him. One of these graduates — a truly exceptional student — is going to begin studying at a very highly regarded school in Khon Kaen, 250 kms away. She is one of our highest achieving students and she has a long held desire to study medicine. We hope that, by attending this school, she will increase her chances of fulfilling her enormous promise.
The same day saw three of our older girls graduate at certificate level from vocational school. They are all computer students and will continue onto the diploma program next year. Three young women and one young man completed said diploma level, two studying computers, one studying Food & Nutrition and one architecture. The young man deserves very special praise as he was in a motorbike accident last March, suffering some very serious injuries. His composure and strong will enabled him to complete his course on time. He now wants to continue onto a degree level course, as do two of the young women. The other girl is as yet unsure what she will do next.
Three more girls graduated from senior high school, one at the top of her class. These three are very bright and two will continue into university programs. The third will study logistics at a vocational college in Nong Khai. Finally, one of our older boys completed senior high school at the aforementioned school in Khon Kaen. He achieved A+ scores in every single subject and was presented with a special award by his school — a remarkable accomplishment. Next term, he will begin a degree in Business Management at Khon Kaen university.
These stories represent so much of what is good about Sarnelli House and the work Fr. Shea and his staff do. Many of these children arrived in poor health or having suffered neglect or trauma or from brutal poverty. They have achieved so much in their short lives and with luck and hard work, will go onto achieve much, much more. Sarnelli House is enormously proud of these teenagers and young adults. They have shown great resilience and focus and act as fine role models for the younger children. Education is Sarnelli House’s fastest growing expense and finding the money each year is a struggle. But we will do our best to continue to open the doors for these young children to walk through. They remain an inspiration to us all.
