Alliance for Catholic Education
I used to think graduation was a celebration of completing course work and moving on to what is next. But watching my cohort – my people – cross the stage to receive their diplomas, I realized this graduation was about something else entirely. Our diplomas were not fully about the academics we just completed. They were about the students we served, the friendships we built, the communities we encountered, and the personal growth that transformed each of us. This graduation was not just a ceremony – it was a testament of doing something hard, holy, and truly meaningful.
During the first summer, ACE professors and faculty always stressed that we were at our schools to do more than teach – we were there for our students and to support them holistically. It was not until I arrived at Guadalupe Regional Middle School in Brownsville, Texas, that I began to understand what that meant. As ACE Teaching Fellows, my friends and I were called upon to be positive forces for good. In addition to providing high-quality lessons daily, we were tasked with being a constantly reliable person for our students. Being a listening ear to students facing challenges both big and small, running extracurricular clubs and sports, and adapting to put on any hat our school needed just scratches the surface of what it meant to be an ACE teacher. From my experience, my job titles at school ranged everywhere from science teacher to athletic director to carpenter all the way to bartender at fundraisers and cupcake salesman. In our second year, we were asked to perform a professional growth project that enhances our school communities. These ranged from grant writing for musical instruments and gardens to providing professional development for the school on emerging topics like artificial intelligence. Throughout our time at our schools, we transformed into leaders that made significant impacts on our school communities.
In addition to our schools, we encounter our communities and cities. While this experience is truly unique to every placement, they are all equally impactful. In Brownsville, Texas, I was able to be welcomed into family-owned taquerias, learn about Mexican culture from friends and neighbors, and attend Mass at migrant camps in Mexico with the Jesuit priests. Through all of these interactions, my view of the world was expanded, and I began to understand what it truly meant to be in solidarity with others. Living and teaching in Brownsville was not just a professional assignment – it was an invitation to walk with people in their daily lives and celebrate their highs and lows together. It taught me to listen more deeply, to embrace discomfort, and to recognize the profound dignity in every person I encountered.
And then, of course, there was the community within ACE itself. We began the journey as strangers, brought together by a shared desire to serve, but over two years, we became a family. Living in an intentional community meant supporting each other through lesson planning disasters, long nights of grading, and moments of personal struggle. But it also meant sharing in laughter that echoed through our home, prayer that grounded us in purpose, and joy that came from knowing we were never alone in this mission. Our community was not perfect, but it was real – and in its realness, it was sacred.
So when I watched my cohort cross that graduation stage, I didn’t just see people who had finished a degree. I saw people who had poured themselves out for their students, their schools, and their communities with intention and grace. I saw people who allowed themselves to be shaped by the places they served and the people they encountered. I saw people who found strength in vulnerability and kept showing up for their students even on the hard days.
Graduating from ACE Teaching Fellows is not about an end. It’s about the beginning of a life committed to service and leadership rooted in compassion to build a world that cares for all of God’s creation. We leave this program changed – and that is the full meaning behind our new diplomas.