May 27, 2020 // Uncategorized

Bishop Luers High School — Co-valedictorian Mary Braun

Todays Catholic

Mary Braun

Seeing the many different ways holy people lived their lives has been one of the blessings Bishop Luers co-valedictorian Mary Braun feels she received during her education at the school. It has been an inspiration for her own faith life.

“I have enjoyed experiencing a variety of different faith perspectives at Bishop Luers, which has given me more confidence in my own beliefs,” she shared. “I’ve also had many opportunities to put my faith into action, from participating in community service through my Sodalitas group to praying for an end to abortion to serving at Mass as a eucharistic minister. Bishop Luers has provided me with many opportunities to express my faith.”

Braun came to Bishop Luers after graduating from St. Joseph – Hessen Cassel School, Fort Wayne. She and her family are members of St. Joseph – Hessen Cassel Parish.

At Bishop Luers she was able to participate in many sports, clubs and service opportunities. She ran cross-country for four years and was selected by her coaches to be a captain during her senior year. She played tennis for three years, ran track her freshman year, competed in history Academic Super Bowl competitions for four years, and engaged in fine arts for three years.

Braun was a captain for extracurricular (ASB) history club activities her junior and senior years. She served as co-president of the school’s Future Business Leaders of America club her senior year, having also been a part of the club for three years prior.

She volunteered through Key Club for three years, acting as treasurer her junior year and vice president her senior year. Through Key Club, Braun began volunteering at Big Brothers Big Sisters and made personal connections with her “Littles.” She also is part of Knights for Life, a prayer group that meets every Thursday morning to pray the rosary for an end to abortion.

She was elected senior class senator in the school’s student government. In addition, she offered her services as a peer tutor for her classmates.

Life is not all hard work for Braun, though. The future Purdue University exploratory studies major also loves to read and binges books “the way some people binge shows on Netflix,” she said. “I also really enjoy proving pointless arguments, such as the ‘very important’ issue that a Pop-Tart is most definitely a calzone, and that cereal is really soup. I love making puns, eating chocolate and drinking chai tea.”

Braun graduates first in her class — along with co-valedictorian Mary Cicchiello — with a 4.49 GPA. She said some of her most treasured high school memories are simple things like conversations with her friends at lunch, struggling with her chemistry “family” and racing cars that she made with her friends in engineering classes. “I’ll also never forget the memories of pasta dinners with my cross-country team, ASB competitions, and walking down senior hall with my friends as an upperclassman.”