20 Signs You Went To Seton Catholic Central High School
As someone who was raised in the Catholic School system, I’ve never been exposed to public school lifestyle. I went through a whole TWELVE years in Catholic schools, (13 if we’re counting kindergarten). Living in the city of Binghamton already makes someone feel like they know everybody, but imagine going to a high school where your graduating class was less than 100. Mine was a record breaking 45. Here are 20 signs you went to Seton Catholic Central High School.
1. Your Uniform Collection.
Lord knows how many polos, blouses, button downs, and kilts you own. And every year you would beg your parents to buy you a new white shirt, because you ruined the only polo/blouse you had with sweat stains. And let’s not forget ladies, the stack of turtleneck sweaters, cardigans and vests we all had during the winter season. Many graduates keep the uniforms for Halloween costumes or just as keepsakes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone just burned every article of clothing.
2. Opposing team fan clubs always hitting us where it hurts, our Catholic lifestyle.
Chants like “God loves us for free!” or “Where’s your God now?” But fan club would simply hit them back with Moses parting the sea, and the classic, “GPA GPA GPA”.
3. You’ve heard Mr. Phillips’ “Natalie Portman story”.
If you don’t know the Natalie Portman story, did you even go to SCC? The story of him getting his chest hair tickled by the A-list actress, unforgettable.
4. Fan Club was the highlight of basketball season.
Every year, a new senior would take over as Fan Club leader, and then just taunt the s#!+ out of the visiting teams. Yelling at players during foul shots, the entire fan club mirroring the opposing coach’s every move, and of course the infamous “Seton Shimmy” is engraved in our brains. Fan Club was just a fun time to go crazy and cheer on our sports teams!
5. You were probably on at least ONE sports team.
Being a small school, there wasn’t a lot of competition for spots on teams. And since there weren’t “cuts”, you could’ve gone out for any team you wanted really. Though there were some exceptions, a majority of students played on more than one sports team.
6. “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond, you know every word.
Just kidding, but you most definitely know every word to the chorus. Would a basketball game really be a basketball game if the stage band didn’t play this classic?
7. Saintly Grounds was your favorite part of the day.
Ahh… students couldn’t wait to grab their pizza and cold drinks. And for those who graduated earlier than 2017, there’s a good chance you remember Mario also informing us of the “coffee flavor of the day”. It was convenient, cheap and there was always a variety of snacks.
8. Parking was the worst experience.
Dear GOD would someone teach the uneducated how to park. In order to park in front of the school, or even by the Priests Residence, you’d have to be at school no later than 8:02. If you weren’t, it’s off to the Field of Dreams to try and maneuver between all kinds of interesting cars. And good luck trying to find a close spot with those shit for nothing park jobs.
9. You’re still searching for cookies to match the ones from the cafeteria.
I don’t think anyone will disagree when you say, they were the best cookies you will ever have. The chocolate chip cookies were always so fresh and soft. But sadly, thanks to Michelle Obama (all love) they had to disregard all cookies. To this day, I don’t think anyone can find a close comparison
10. You feel like a rebel not having your shirt tucked in.
The amount of times you were told to tuck in your shirt by either Sr. K or Mr. Phillips most definitely exceeds the amount of times your shirt was ever actually tucked in. Once out of Seton, wearing button downs and blouses with the tails hanging out make you feel like a boss.
11. Odds are you don’t know what a real Pep Rally feels like.
At Seton, we were never one to hold the kinds of pep-rallies you see on TV and in movies, or even the ones you see go on at other schools. Now that doesn’t mean we didn’t have school spirit, we just all congregated to the school gym, heard some players speak, listen to the stage band, clap and finish with Alma Mater. Nothing too crazy. So hopefully when you moved on to other colleges, you each got a real pep-rally experience.
12. Getting a S.A.I.N.T. award was the biggest accomplishment of your high school career.
Every quarter, teachers would hand out awards to who they said were either “most improved” or “best in class.” When the quarter finally came to an end, at the end of mass our principle would pull out the manila folder filled with a stack of papers. When one’s specific class came up, the entire gym is on the edge of their seat waiting for their name. If you were called, everyone else in that class probably hated you, but you were ecstatic.
13. All your Seton Merchandise.
If you went to Seton then you are bound to have at least 15 items with the SCC logo. Whether it be magnets with your respective sports or clubs, a scarf sold to you by the Boy’s Varsity Soccer team, ornaments and socks from the front table at basketball games, or just all of the apparel you made your parents buy through Zapias for your sports teams. It’s safe to say that basically everyone knew where you went to school just based on that.
14. You didn’t know the beauty of Open Campus Lunch.
Students were restricted from leaving school grounds for lunch, simply because there was just never enough time for kids to leave, retrieve food, and come back in time for their next class, or so administration says (though my senior schedule would beg to differ). In substitute, kids would either bring from home or simply just buy from the cafeteria, which by the way still had amazing food as well.
15. Sometimes you just coincidentally got sick on “Mass days”.
Once you heard a mass was coming up, you planned specifically to not come into school that day, or right before Mass had your parents call and say you have an appointment.
16. You’ve become accustomed to not eating meat on Fridays.
Throughout the week you had steakums, chicken patties, and hamburgers. But on Fridays, that usually meant either mozzarella sticks or pizza..literally nothing else.
17. You probably have a small hatred for May Crowning.
Every year the school would gather in the gym, that god forsaken gym, with absolutely NO air conditioning for a half hour. Then we would have a “procession” down to Rec Park and stand in 80° weather for about 40 minutes.
18. Dress Down Days were a godsend.
They were so rare because administration hated seeing students out of dress code. Although girls still couldn’t wear leggings and short shorts (God forbid boys get uncomfortable), we simply took these chances to put on some comfy sweatpants and lounge around Seton without being strapped up in blouses and school pants.
19. You’ve become so close with your entire class because there’s so few of you.
I know personally my senior year, I got very close with my whole class. With such small numbers, it’s kind of hard not to become attached to your classmates. I mean you have been going to school with them basically you’re entire life.
20. You’ll never forget your Alma Mater.
“Now lift your voice and raise a song….” I know I won’t forget. You were basically forced to learn every word, you sang it at every basketball game, and sang it for the last time at your graduation. The school was of course a pain, but nonetheless it probably gave you some of the best memories you’ll remember forever. So “…Here’s to our Alma Mater to our own dear SCCHS!!!”
#ROLLGREEN
