Mickey Watson

Cristo Ray

A few weeks ago I took a trip to Cristo Ray School. Cristo Ray is a Jesuit private high school in Baltimore. They provide inner city kids the opportunity to achieve academic excellence and work experience. Cristo Ray is incredibly unique in the way they educate children. Their goal is to send their kids to college, but more importantly proper them for life after college. Many of their students are unable to afford Cristo Ray finically, because of this, they have a system that gives students the opportunity to work and pay for school. Their jobs are incorporated into their school day; therefore, they have more than enough time to focus on homework.  

The soccer team went there to talk about our high school experience and the transition to college. After my time there, I felt like they were more of a blessing to me than I was to them. They all seemed so motivated and willing to do anything for a good education. Many of them walk 2, sometimes 3 miles to school; others wake up at 5 am to catch 3 to 4 different public transportation, and most of all, they did this without complaining.

My Papa’s Waltz is a poem about a drunk and abusive father. Although the dad is hard working, he spends most of his time out of the house, drinks at night and takes his anger out on the boy. Looking at kids from Cristo Ray and the inner city, I feel like some of them may be able to relate to this. Their parents may not be abusive; however, I do not think they dedicate as much time to their kids as they should.

In The Cask of Amontillado, one character is jealous of the other and blindly leads him to his death. One of the main themes in the story is, for one character to be free, another must die. Similar to Baltimore inner city, for kids to have a better education system, the wealthy must sacrifice some of their wealth.