January 28, 2022

Catholic Schools Week Supplement

Learning lessons in respect and love—and sharing them with others

By John Shaughnessy

Tyrone DavisEven though Tyrone Davis isn’t Catholic, he still embraces the difference that a Catholic education has made in the formative years of his life.

“I believe that having a Catholic education is very important because it teaches you important moral virtues such as honesty, respect and compassion,” says Tyrone, a senior at Our Lady of Providence High School in Clarksville.

“I myself wasn’t born and raised a Catholic, with my mom being Eastern Orthodox. However, going to Catholic schools most of my life has taught me humility and how to show care, love and

respect toward other people, because you never know what the next person might be going through at home. They might have a hard life, so going out of your way to show kindness can go a long way.”

Tyrone says he especially used that approach during his junior year at Providence when the challenges of COVID-19 were having an impact.

“It felt as if everyone was dealing with something, and it was hard to find reasons to smile and be happy,” he recalls.

“I continued to show love and respect toward everyone I know and met—and tried to be their reason to smile. Whether it was a nice compliment, or a funny joke, or me being outright dumb just to get a laugh out of someone, I think this community and the whole world needed a little bit of that.”

As much as he has tried to do for the Providence community, Tyrone knows how much the school has done for him.

“I think that my Providence education will continue to serve me well in the future. Not only have I been taught great and important moral virtues by which to live, Providence also has a top-tier academic education.

“I’m hoping that I can use the valuable lessons that I learn here to continue to develop my own successful career.” †

 

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