Mount Michael Welcomes the New Nine

This year Mount Michael has nine new students entering the upper grades, four juniors and five sophomores.

New Juniors:

Hailing from Bloomington, Minnesota is Connor Hills. Last year he attended “The Academy of Holy Angels”. Connor toured the Mount twice last year and decided to come because of friends’ recommendations of Mount Michael as a good school. Connor enjoys playing tennis and looks forward to contributing to the team’s efforts to find success at the state tournament in October. Connor says he thinks his new classmates are cool and he enjoys hanging out and listening to music.

Zach Tucker attends Mount Michael as a day student. Last year he was home schooled. He learned about Mount Michael from Denny Walsh (father of Steve ’92) who is a friend of his parents. The small school environment and academic reputation are what most attracted him. Zach plays football and finds it hard but fun and is grateful for the opportunity it provides to get to know some of the guys. He finds the classes quite challenging but the teachers make it fun. Zach says the hardest thing is adjusting to learning in a classroom environment and the easiest thing is making friends.

Andrew Wimmer attended the public high school in West Point, Nebraska last year. He is very interested in becoming an aerospace engineer. He decided that in pursuit of that career goal a challenging academic environment would be beneficial. Andrew is very involved in high power rocketry with a club in Omaha and the Tripoli Rocketry Association. A lot of his free time is devoted to rocketry and he also helps out with the West Point 4th of July display. He is currently working on NASA’s Student Launch Initiative as result of placing 3rd nationally in the Team America Rocketry Challenge last year. While he finds the academics difficult here at Mount Michael he is confident that he will do all right. The hardest things about Mount Michael for Andrew are no girls and being away from home all week.

Aaron Zeller comes to Mount Michael after attending Bryan High School in Omaha last year. He was attracted to Mount Michael for “the overall atmosphere and academic standards”. In his free time he likes to play guitar, read, and listen to music. He finds the hardest part of the Mount to be the academics but living in a dorm is very agreeable. He considers his classmates to be “all good guys” .

Sophomores:

Transferring from Skutt Catholic is Jordon Goldsmith. He is the brother of Mount Michael alum Matt Goldsmith ’06. Jordon is currently running cross country for the Knights. In his free time he likes “hanging with my friends” working out and getting on the computer. When asked how he liked his classes Jordon said, “I think the classes are very challenging, they make me think outside the box. I like to be challenged, because then I know I am learning and growing. If everything was easy we wouldn’t get any better.” Jordan says he likes the small class sizes and enjoys his classmates immensely and appreciates the help they’ve given him in finding his way around the first few weeks.

Joo Sung Kim is from Ansan, South Korea, He became acquainted with Mount Michael Benedictine via the internet. He was attracted to Mount Michael because he was looking for a boarding school. He isn’t involved in many activities as of yet but plans on looking into it. He likes playing basketball and computer games in his free time. His favorite class is Government Class.

From Seoul, South Korea comes Jeong Woo Lee. He was introduced to Mount Michael by an acquaintance and turned to the Mount Michael webpage to learn more. Jeong says that his parents wanted him to study in the United States and after they learned about Mount Michael they knew it was the school they were looking for. Jeong likes to play basketball, hang out with friends and read novels in his time off from studying. He finds his classmates “Nice and cool”. His finds his classes are challenging but very worthwhile.

Jeong Bo Shim attended Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton, Massachusetts last year. He was attracted to Mount Michael for its educational value. So far his favorite class is chemistry. He likes the fact that Mount Michael’s Gym is available during his free time. He also likes to play soccer and read. He enjoys the new friends he is making. Jeong calls Ansan, South Korea home.

Tristan Welie attended St. Stephen’s in Rome, Italy last year but has known about Mount Michael for a long time. He attended Saint Margaret Mary’s in Omaha previously. What particularly attracted Tristan “was the boarding situation. I have always wanted to experience dorm life before attending college.” Tristan is involved in athletics and band. He finds his classes interesting of which Art is his favorite. When asked what he liked best about Mount Michael Tristan said, “I like the people the most. Being a new student I thought I’d be left out but I made new friends very quickly.” The hardest part about Mount Michael according to Tristan is “remembering to make my bed.”