The Inspiration Behind San Juan Diego Catholic High School

When I first started at San Juan Diego Catholic High School, I expected it to be just another job that would give me experience. I was proven wrong. I was asked to come on as SJDCHS’s Communications Coordinator, a position that I believed to not be directly involved with the students. I’ve learned during my short time here at SJDCHS that there is no way you cannot be involved with the students.

The work ethic these students possess is beyond anything I’ve ever seen, and it inspires me to do more than what I was hired to do. These students have the opportunity to earn a Catholic, college preparatory education, all while participating in a corporate internship program that helps pay for part of their tuition. No other school in Central Texas can claim their school does the same for their students, which is what makes SJDCHS so unique.

By the time our students graduate from high school, they’ll be accepted to a college or university and have four years of work experience on their resume. Recently, an alumna, who is now attending Barnard College in New York City, sent us an e-mail stating that she received a paid internship at MTV. In her email she explained that she received the internship with MTV because of her experience at the Austin-based advertising firm GSD&M as an SJDCHS student. To hear that a student who attended our institution received a highly sought after, paid internship because of the Corporate Internship Program was beyond thrilling to the teachers and staff here. We were so blessed to receive such amazing news from a former student!

We believe that these stories should be shared with the community, so the people can see what truly unique young people attend this school. Each week, a new blog will be posted, featuring our students, faculty and staff, and the Corporate Internship Program. The hope for this blog is for people to recognize the school and its achievements, but to also get to know the people who get the most out of the school: the students. It is these amazing students along with a great faculty, staff, internship supervisors, and support from the Austin community that make SJDCHS “The School That Works!”