Bishop Garcia Diego High School senior reflects on her years at the school
Bishop Garcia Diego High School graduate Camille Macario. COURTESY PHOTO
Bishop Garcia Diego High School graduate Camille Macario. COURTESY PHOTO
What can be an arduous task for some high school students turned into a labor of love for Camille Macario.
The senior at Bishop Garcia Diego High School was honored earlier this year as the Catholic School Volunteer Service Award after completing more than 520 hours of community service over her high school career. Volunteering was new to Ms. Macario when she got to Bishop, but it quickly became something she enjoyed.
Students are required to complete 100 hours of community service at Bishop, which makes what she was able to accomplish that much more amazing.
“It just has taught me to be grateful for what I have and also be thankful for the community and to learn to give back to others,” she said. “Also it’s very enjoyable, too.”
She has volunteered as a junior ambassador at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, helping escort visitors and discharge patients. She also was a docent at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History for the past two summers.
“I really loved both of those places,” she said.
Ms. Macario will graduate with a GPA of 4.19 – not too shabby for someone who has given up her time to assist others.
She will be attending Santa Barbara City College in the fall to study biology. She will be in the SBCC Promise Program, which provides local students who complete their secondary education within the Santa Barbara Community College District the chance to attend City College full-time for two years free of charge. After City College she hopes to transfer to a UC school or Cal Poly to continue working toward a career in the medical field.
Ms. Macario isn’t sure what type of doctor she wants to be yet, but has thought about becoming a pediatrician or neurosurgeon. For now she is focused on attaining her bachelor’s degree and will worry about the specification down the road.
Her aunt and uncle are nurses and Ms. Macario has a cousin currently studying nursing. Her great-grandparents and grandparents were doctors in the Philippines, she said.
“It’s really something I’ve always been passionate about,” she said. “I really want to follow in their footsteps.”
She is forever grateful for how Bishop has allowed her to grow in her faith and her social life. Attending mass and taking religion courses have allowed her to learn more about her faith, and during her high school career she has made friendships that will last a lifetime.
Her freshman year, Ms. Macario met her best friend, Piper La Rocca. The two were in yearbook class together and eventually became editors for the annual publication.
“Every single day I’m always with her,” she said. “We’re inseparable, really.”
Ms. La Rocca will be attending the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, but Ms. Macario is confident they will be making trips to see one another and enjoying school breaks during the holidays.
While Ms. Macario said she will miss the friendships and bonds she has created with her classmates, she also mentioned her government teacher, Caleb Davis.
“I hope he reads this,” she said with a laugh. “There are so many times I may have barged in on his class, or maybe annoyed him – but he meant a lot to me.”
Ms. Macario said today’s commencement ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. at the Courthouse Sunken Garden, will definitely be an emotional day celebrating with the class of 2019.
“I can’t really say ‘oh yea, I am a Cardinal’ – but I’ll always be a Cardinal,” she said.
