Dear Class of 2028:

You are now embarking on a journey that is totally your own, with a beginning chapter unlike that of any other class. But just because your story is different doesn’t mean it won’t contain the same amazing episodes of friendship and formation experienced by the many forms before you. Cistercian, as I know you’ll soon discover, is much more than a school: it is a place that forms you, and that introduces you to incredible teachers devoted to helping you succeed, to traditions that will outlast these extraordinary times, and to classmates with whom you will make friendships you can’t even imagine yet. To go to Cistercian is to embark on a great adventure.

You’ll be learning more than your curriculum from your teachers at Cistercian. Your Form Master, Fr. Philip, isn’t just a homeroom advisor as you might have had at another school—he is a mentor who will shepherd you throughout the next eight years, talking with you about matters great and small. The monks who teach here have dedicated their whole lives to this place, and they will bring all that they are to the classroom, forming friendships with you, talking with you outside of class, and helping you as much as they possibly can. There are also lay teachers, some who have taught at Cistercian longer than the seniors have been alive, who now turn to you, and dedicate themselves to you, as you will see through their passion and their care for you in the classroom. You may find yourself in dialogue with your teacher about fantasy football, Batman movies, politics, or anything else that may happen to come into conversation. Also, at Cistercian, you will learn not only formulas and dates, but, more importantly, how to think, so that you can go out into the world, engage with it, and succeed in it.

The Cistercian classes before you have gone through the school’s set of wonderful, exciting traditions, and, together, so will you and your Form. You will dash across the football field at halftime in the Form II Dot Race next year. You will pass by faraway cities and unknown towns on the Texas History Trip in Form III. You will host one of the preeminent school parties in the Dallas area, the Freshman Mixer. And you will construct and enjoy the best Homecoming in town. Cistercian’s rites will tighten the bonds between you and your friends, and it may even be during one of these smaller adventures that you form new friendships, too.

As you go through the years alongside your classmates, through milestone traditions and daily incidents, not only will you find that within your Form are some of your best friends, but you will also witness the entirety of the Form unite as a whole. By the end of your Cistercian adventure, your Form will truly be a community of friends, looking out for one another, having fun with one another, and celebrating one another.

Bonam fortunam,
Ayden Kowalski, Class of 2021