Isabella Bozkent and Samuel Tuero | On 08, Apr 2016

Why are we all amazing? That’s the question that we were presented with in assembly on April 5, 2016. People who hurt us or leave our life when we need them most, why do they deserve to feel amazing? Hard as Nails Ministries founder Justin Fatica would say “because they’re human just like you.” His message broke through to the Hudson Catholic community like no other speaker’s has before.

The message of love is a powerful one because it is the one thing that transcends everything in our lives. It is the one thing that can bring us together as humans to put aside our problems and realize we’re not alone in our daily struggles. According to Fatica, even when we think we are truly alone, we can turn to God and know we’re meant for something better. The Hudson Catholic community came together as one because of how strong this message was.

Admittedly, we were a bit apprehensive as the school sat in the gymnasium waiting for his presentation. Some figured it would be just another person coming to speak to us about how much God loves us or how these four years affect our lives and who we are as people. And even though those things were said, it felt that we weren’t being talked at, but that we were talked to, as well as shown that we are understood.

Justin Fatica did have a very intense way of getting his message across and some very unorthodox ways of getting us to open up to his ideas. By the end there was not a single dry eye in the room.

“Before we got in the gym, I didn’t think this assembly was going to leave such an impression on my fellow classmates and me,” Student Council Treasurer Dana Picinich said. “I was truly amazed at the way we all came together as a school.”

Our own experiences were shared. Our own classmates became examples. It was no longer about us watching videos of others going through difficult times and others sharing their hardships with us, like it always has been. Although that too is very sad, our heartstrings are pulled at much more when it’s a friend or classmate – people we see in the hallways everyday, people we don’t even notice as we run from class to class.

Towards the end of the presentation, we all sat in our seats crying and healing with one another, overwhelmed with compassion for each other’s greatest challenges in life.

We started the day in our gym thankful for a shorter class schedule and ended the presentation thankful for the Hudson Catholic family. As senior Elena Rodriguez exclaimed, “Hudson Catholic got this assembly right!”