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Collegiate Friars: September 2020

Catching up with Friar young alumni Karina Banuelos ’18 and Luke Cahill ’16.

KARINA BANUELOS

Fenwick Graduation: 2018
Hometown: Chicago
Grade School: St. Richard
Current School:  University of Illinois at Chicago
Major: Pre-Med Neuroscience with a minor in Psychology

Summer Internship: I had originally planned to intern as a part of the “Women in Science” Field Museum summer program, researching plant and fungal interactions in their lab, but due to the ongoing pandemic, these plans had to change. Instead, I currently volunteer at the UI Health Hospital in the Inpatient/Outpatient Pediatric Center, helping children and their families before their appointments, reading to babies, and trying to bring the most fun, interactive engagements I can to patients, even with COVID limitations. Additionally, I volunteer in the Surgical Services Department of the hospital, assisting nurses by providing pre-op and post-op patients with warm blankets, informational take-home folders, and contacting families after surgery. This experience has allowed me to make connections within medicine and view firsthand the intensive work and passion these women and men put into what they love. I also had the opportunity of completing two neuroscience courses offered through Harvard University this summer!

Career aspirations: Ever since I took Ms. Lilek’s [now Mrs. David] Psychology course senior year, I realized my love and fascination of the human brain and its complications, making it more invigorating to learn about! She made the class interactive, challenging us to create our own experiments, testing them out, and then sharing our unique results with the class. These research experiments peaked my interest into what is now my focus in college and career aspiration for the future! After touring the University of Illinois College of Medicine, I was offered the opportunity to be recently placed with a medical student who is now my Neurology mentor throughout my undergraduate career, which I could not be more thankful for! After undergraduate school, I would love to go onto medical school and accomplish my long route dream of becoming a future neurosurgeon.

Fenwick Achievements/Activities: H.O.L.A Club, Medical Club, German Club, Girls’ Water Polo, Girls’ Bowling, St. Catherine/St. Lucy Tutoring

Fenwick teacher who had the most influence on you: I had a couple of faculty members who had much influence on me throughout high school, such as my German teacher, Frau Strom, and my counselor, Mrs. Docherty. They both immensely aided and guided me when I had several questions about the college process and financial aid, needed help with tutoring, or was just someone to help me catch myself when I felt overwhelmed. If it wasn’t for my sophomore chemistry teacher, Ms. Timmons, I don’t believe that I’d be where I stand today. When there was something I didn’t understand, she always offered to stay late and give extra help before class until I confidently understood the lesson, which later led me to my love of science to this day. Even outside of academics, Ms. Timmons made a memorable impact on me that I will always cherish: When I joined water polo my freshman year, I had absolutely no experience competitively swimming and playing sports in the water. From day one, Coach Liz asked me to set goals for myself and constantly pushed me to achieve my best. In the pool and in the classroom, she made me realize that there is no shame in struggling and making mistakes, because that’s how we learn to build that greater version of ourselves and grow into what we want to accomplish. We should also never be afraid to ask for help, because there is probably someone else out there who has the same question as you!

Fenwick class that had the most influence on you: I had the fortunate and beautiful chance of taking Fr. Joe’s theology class my sophomore year. Fr. Joe is someone you can never forget — always happy, laughing and loving life, and putting others first before himself.  He didn’t care who you were or where you came from; just that he loved each one of us individually, and that’s how he went about his teaching. With the same passion and love he had for God, he displayed it onto the students in an interactive way: By dancing, praising and singing to the Lord, and always praying for one another. Much like Kairos, Fr. Joe’s theology class incorporated the Dominican Catholic pillars of prayer, study, community and preaching into our academic and personal lives, which has allowed me to deepen my relationship with God and remind myself to take each beautiful day as it comes. 

Best Fenwick experience/the one you would like to live again: My freshman year at Fenwick, I knew no one going in. Keeping this in mind, I decided to join clubs that I’d thought would help me meet new people. Joining H.O.L.A (Hispanic Outreach and Latino Awareness Club) was probably one of the best decisions I made early on and would love to live again. I was able to connect and share my story with incoming freshmen during open houses and fortunate enough to meet many families from all backgrounds who were interested in learning more about our culture! Mrs. Gallanari also made this club a safe, inviting, fun and informational place where I was able to meet students from similar backgrounds, take part in food drives and Day of the Dead celebrations, learn more and inform others of the Latino culture within the Fenwick community, and ultimately create relationships with the people who are now my closest friends to this day.  

Fenwick experience that changed you the most: I am blessed and forever grateful to have gone to a school that allowed me to open myself to new surroundings, people and experiences, while having an extensive support system to creating my own path. Attending Kairos was the experience that motivated me to grow into the woman I want to be and realize that we should not take our everyday interactions for granted. Life can be simply based on how you perceive it: “Is your glass half full or half empty?” In other words, never be afraid to compliment or share a smile with that random stranger or to just give your family member an extra- long hug or even check up on your loved ones. Be happy and always spread that love around you, because you never know when someone could be needing it. I also learned that we tend to get ahead of ourselves and become so preoccupied with the world around us, that sometimes we need to hit “pause” on our life, and be thankful for what and whom we have. So, to everyone at Fenwick who has watched me grow as a student, friend, athlete and, now alumna, and to those who have helped me when I struggled, a huge THANK YOU for everything you’ve given me those four years and now!

LUKE CAHILL

Fenwick Graduation: 2016
Hometown: Naperville, IL
Grade School: Washington Junior High
College: Graduated from Regis University (Denver, CO) in May 2020
Major: Finance & Accounting

Summer Internship: 2019 internship – Marathon Petroleum Corporation

Career aspirations:  I started a full-time position in June 2020 working for Prologis, a real estate investment trust, as a Capital Expenditure Specialist in Denver.

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Choosing a Catholic Education

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How a grade-school speech contest led a South Sider to send his boys to Fenwick — despite proximity to two other high-school options near Countryside/La Grange.

By Patrick Heslin

Patrick, Jr. ’09 (from left) and his younger brother, Sean ’17, with their dad, Pat Heslin, Sr.

The road to Fenwick for my boys started when my son Patrick was in the 5th grade. He attended St. Cletus La Grange and brought a letter home about a Fenwick speech contest one day.

I grew up on the southside in Englewood and knew very little about Fenwick. I lived about a ½ mile from the original St. Rita High School at 63rd and Claremont in Chicago. On Sunday afternoons I would occasionally attend football games in their walled-in stadium. I could get in for 50 cents, if I had to pay at all, and the hot dogs with mustard were my Sunday dinner. What I vividly remember was St. Rita playing on a hot Sunday afternoon against a Fenwick team dressed in black. I thought these guys had to be tough wearing black in that sun!

Fast forward a few years. I am now a dad and I am reading this invitation to the Fenwick speech contest. My career has been in technology sales, and the only public speaking I have had is a class in college and a Toastmasters class when I got my first sales job. Toastmasters is a great, community-based public speaking program where you learn by writing and delivering speeches to your peers.

Throughout my career I have always looked at how effortlessly some people are able to speak in front of an audience while others look like a deer in headlights. In these situations, I am often reminded of the quote from Jerry Seinfield: “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death.  Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”

I am sure that all the above experiences were going through my mind when I committed to taking Patrick to his first speech contest at Fenwick in 5th grade.  The speech contest was on an early Saturday morning in November. Walking up to Fenwick for the first time can be intimidating! It’s got that Gothic look to it. We made it to the cafeteria and met our very small team from St. Cletus. We were surrounded by many larger teams from other Catholic grade schools.

Mr. Heslin says it didn’t hurt that Fenwick speech guru Mr. Arellano is a White Sox fan. (Andy, center, is pictured in his classroom last September during a surprise visit from team radio announcer and former big-leaguer Ed Farmer, left.)

Andy Arellano welcomed us and explained the rules for the contest. Then Andy took some time to talk about Fenwick. You could tell he was passionate about it as Andy explained the history of Fenwick and why it was a great choice for my son’s high school education.  He may also have mentioned at some point that he was a White Sox fan, so I then knew he was also a man of great intelligence.

Time to Choose

In 2005 young Patrick told his dad he’d walk to Fenwick from Countryside rather than go to closer high schools. (’09 FHS Yearbook photo.)

As they say, “rinse and repeat,” so we did the speech contest for three more years. I actually became a judge in the contest in subsequent years. Fast forward and Patrick is now in 8th grade. I tell Patrick that we live within a mile of two great schools, but immediately I could see in his face that his heart was elsewhere. I told him it would be four years of taking trains and buses if he went to Fenwick, and he told me he would walk every day if he had to.

Continue reading “Choosing a Catholic Education”