The Hill is home to many traditions, some big and some small.

At the beginning of the 40 days of Lent, students are required to write an essay in theology class on one of two topics provided for the school year. Theology teacher Mrs. Cece Kasberg ‘83 said that these questions come from the Archdiocese and are directed to the Catholic high schools. 

Kasberg said these essays provide a meaningful activity during the beginning of Lent.

For these essays, freshmen and sophomores get to pick from their own set of prompts and juniors and seniors choose from their own. There are normally two or three prompts to be chosen from, with one being from the Serra Club of Indianapolis and the other relating to the issue of abortion on demand and the Right to Life. 

If your paper is written well enough, your theology teacher will ask you to go one step further and submit your essay to a contest. Kasberg said essays dealing with the right to life get passed on to a contest for the Archdiocese while  the other gets submitted to the Serra Club. If you win these contests, there are monetary awards for the top three essays. Kasberg said, “Just about every year we have Cathedral students win. We place really well.” 

These essays are important in many different ways, not just spiritually, according to Kasberg. She said that they allow students to spiritually strengthen themselves because they are diving into topics from the Catholic Church. It also allows teachers to be able to provide the opportunity to write about real life issues which, according to Kasberg, is important because writing them helps students take a stance on these topics that can be carried all throughout their lives.

Kasberg said she noticed this in her freshman classes personally, as a large portion of her students chose the Right to Life prompt, and “have a stance (on the topic) already, which is awesome.” She also said she feels as though the essays aren’t just being written to get the assignment done.

Kasberg said that to get the best results on these essays you have to spend a few moments to think about how you feel about the prompt. She said that writing the essay “makes you better informed and forms your Christian conscience.”