Chelsea News

This summer I was blessed to be able to attend the Catholic Institute of Technology’s high school summer program in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. Looking at this as a seven-year Chelsea Student, I was struck by how this program perfectly demonstrated the four pillars that Chelsea holds dear: Faith, Friendship, Academics, and Adventure.

The program – “Introduction to Space Sciences + Engineering” – was a rigorous academic study on Aerospace Engineering and other similar subjects. We studied many things from Basic Rocket Science to Orbital Mechanics and even Reentry Physics. Catholic tech also provided us an opportunity to visit the Papal Observatory and perform ordinary laboratory experiments on real meteorites that they house there.

Catholic Tech provided me with as many opportunities to increase my Faith as my intellect. We had daily Mass in the morning before classes, prayed the angelus every day, had confession opportunities, prayed the rosary together, and attended adoration. We also had two trips to Rome in which we visited all of the major basilicas including St. Peters and had a trip to Assisi which I personally considered the best. Throughout the program, I visited the tombs of Carlos Acutis, St. Claire, St. Francis, St. Lawrence, and St. Paul among others; Also I was blessed to be able to painfully climb the Holy Stairs, and attend Mass in St. Peters. These experiences have changed my life forever and I am forever grateful to Catholic Tech for giving me that opportunity.

Friendship was another great gift of the program. It let me connect with other teens my age who had similar interests from places like Washington State, North Dakoda, and even Toronto. There were 6 of us in total, both boys and girls, and because we were a small group, we were able to grow greatly in friendship. This could have been helping each other on the coding homework or just playing on the beach of Lake Albano, but we were always together and became great friends.

And of course there was lots of fun and adventure while I was at Catholic Tech. We went paddleboarding on the lake, played tennis together, and to be honest, just walking around St. Peter's Basilica trying not to get lost is an adventure. This program revealed Chelsea’s four pillars to me in a wonderful college-like experience that I will never forget. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone seeking a college summer program similar to the Catholic Chelsea tradition.