Hi, I’m Morgan! I’m currently a 10th-grade student at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in the i2 program. First off, I’ll tell you a little about my family before we begin: I have two amazing parents who have helped me become the best I could be. They have worked hard to provide for me and my sister, and to give us this wonderful opportunity to attend SHC. And, yes, I also have a sister, too! She is currently a junior at SHC and is in the i2 class of 2025. A few years ago, she was accepted into the i2 program, which was what inspired me, in the first place. 

     The past year as a member of the i2 Class of 2026 has been a blast! Not only has my i2 experience been wonderful, but SHC has additionally given me so many opportunities and challenges along the way, one is participating in the badminton club. Playing badminton with my sister and many of my friends in the early mornings has been an amazing bonding experience. I’ve enjoyed each “club meet” where together, we set up nets in the Pavilion, grab our rackets, and begin a fun morning of exercise, despite having to wake up earlier than required. 

     Secondly, regarding i2, my sister and I have made some excellent progress on our project around sleep deprivation- a project called Space-Z! This additional academic experience has helped strengthen our already tight sibling bond, through sending our surveys, communicating through over 20 emails, and designing our 3 infographics. Not only has our project benefited our SHC student body, but has also taught us to strengthen each others’ weaknesses. For example, before this project, I was uncomfortable with designing infographics, as I had never done so before, and my sister’s weakness was communication. Through this project, we set out to aid each other in our points of weakness, so our project could be stronger, together. 

     Finally, one of the most memorable accomplishments I’ve made throughout my time at SHC is my stage managing career. In my freshman year, I stage managed (in training) for a year, for SHC’s 2022 fall production, The Play That Goes Wrong. This year, I have received the position of assistant director for the fall play, Frankenstein. In this wonderful opportunity, I’ve made so many friends, expanded much of my knowledge in the theater world, and learned the importance of cooperation, through the process of putting a play together. In past experiences of going outside my comfort zone, I’ve never felt such a welcoming community quite like this. Everyone was kind and encouraging, even if I made a mistake. This kind of attitude towards learning and change was shown by many other SHC students and faculty, outside the theater, and I hope to reflect it now and in the years to come. 

MY BLOGS

Phase 3 and 4: Results and Permanence (February 18 - March 28, the Week of the Showcase)

Our project has made some major progress over the past few months in communication, location, and comfortability. We recently met with Mr. Sazo to discuss the final steps of this project- making nap zones permanent around the school campus. He directed us to Dr. Skrade, the President of Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, and we are […] Read more

Phase 2: Items and Testing (January 20- February 18)

Once all of our items arrived, we continued our testing phase with all of our items. Initially, my sister did not set time limits or rules for the team; we realized this would eventually become a maintenance issue, as water and food could be spilled on the beanbags, making it difficult to clean. Besides that, […] Read more

Phase 1.5: February 8, 2023

A day after implementing our bean bags in the DePaul location, we realized that a nap zone in DePaul would be inefficient, and we were almost ready to give up on the location. Since students could relax on the comfortable couches in the DePaul lobby, they would have no use for our nap zones. (However, […] Read more

Phase 1: Location and Pre-Testing (January 11-26)

After the shark tank, we met with Mr. Standley to talk with him about our potential ideas for nap zone spaces. With his advice, we reached out to Mr. Sazo, one of the deans, to talk with him about our ideas for our i2 project. Early January, he gave us permission to use the upper […] Read more

Phase 0: Shark Tank Reflections November 29, 2022

This was the first year Mr. Standley wanted to do a shark tank to make sure students had their i2 projects all thought out by the end of November. A few days before we were set to present to our sharks, Madi and I polished off the rest of our presentation slides. We had our […] Read more

The i2 Journey Begins...

Before my older sister started her application process, I never knew i2, let alone the enhancement it would bring to my high school experience at Sacred Heart Cathedral… In the fall, the entire nation was coming out of lockdown, as I began my high school application process. Filling out applications was the least stressful part […] Read more

Space-Z

In a perfect world, all teenagers would navigate through life, and around obstacles like homework, extra-curricular activities, and jobs to create a good sleep schedule. Unfortunately, most SHC students don’t have the time to get enough sleep. Results from a survey showed that our classmates’ average bedtime is midnight, and some even past that. On school days, they wake up at 6 am to get to school for block 7 or 8’s. That’s only 6 hours of sleep! When you don’t get enough sleep…

Project details