I was shocked to learn that Notre Dame would be closed. The metropolitan Detroit area -- and the Archdiocese for that matter -- has lost not just another Catholic High School, but a truly great institution and builder of men, the likes of which we can only pray we will see again. To say that ND's closing is a mistake is an understatement, for the Archdiocese has failed to realize the impact that Notre Dame has made on this community, and could continue to make if the leaders of our Archdiocese were more creative.

In any event, I felt that I needed to drop a note of thanks to Notre Dame and all who attempted to ensure the future of the great Notre Dame tradition. When I think back, as I often do, about my career, it is Notre Dame that has made me successful. While I may not be as successful as some of ND's greater-known graduates, I have achieved personal success in that I have a job that I love and that I am good at. Allow me to give you a little bit of personal history to explain my point. Ever since I was a young boy, I wanted to have a career with General Motors. I am truly "living the dream", as I am leading Powertrain and Chassis Integration Engineering for the 2006 Impala and Monte Carlo, GM's largest volume passenger car. The job is just about as perfect a fit as one could ask for; I still wake up every day and look forward to going to work.

Naturally, education is an important key to success in a career. Prior to attending Notre Dame, I went to St. Veronica's in East Detroit. In my senior year at ND, I was accepted to and subsequently attended General Motors Institute in Flint to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Now, GMI in those days was a great engineering school. The Institute required an average of 19 to 20 credit hours per semester, which is considered to be academic suicide anywhere else. To make this situation even more difficult, semesters were only 12 weeks long to allow for co-op work at various GM sites for the remainder of the year. Even considering the stress and the relentless workload all GMI grads went through, it was well worth it. In fact, it made earning my University of Michigan Masters Degree simple in comparison. I don't mention this to brag. Actually, it is quite the opposite. I mention this to better illustrate the impact of Notre Dame on my life and career. While it is true that attending GMI played a big role in my success at General Motors, attending GMI and graduating from GMI would not have been at all possible without the truly excellent education Notre Dame provided. For that, I thank Notre Dame High School.

Besides providing me the opportunity to obtain the math and science tools needed to be a good engineer (thanks to great teachers like Ed Cackowski, Dennis Lynch, Mark Recor, and the best-ever calculus teacher, Bill Raymond), Notre Dame also taught me how to communicate effectively in voice and in written word. This was made apparent to me even in my first semester at GMI, when I witnessed so many of my fellow engineering classmates struggle to write a good English sentence, let alone put their thoughts together in an effective paragraph. So much, if not all, of what humans do in their jobs relies on communication. Notre Dame realized that without communication, we go nowhere in life, and they provided an English education beyond compare. From Fr. Saunders to "Pops" Kelly to Tom Schusterbauer, the English education I received was priceless. Again, I thank Notre Dame High School.

But, perhaps the most important way Notre Dame influenced me was making me a better person. Peel away the engineer in me, peel away the communicator in me and you will find a happy, positive, outgoing, loving, and unique individual. Without that aspect of my Notre Dame education, I am nothing. While it may be true in most Catholic schools that this is the job of the Religious Education Department, this was the task of the entire faculty and staff. Needless to say, they were successful. As is often the case -- if we only but realize the power of synergy -- the "whole" of Notre Dame's faculty and staff was greater than the sum of its parts. That is the real reason behind the unique and positive atmosphere that only Notre Dame could offer. I see the results of this atmosphere, this greater entity, not only in myself, but also in all Notre Dame graduates that I know and meet -- often by chance -- throughout the years. There is this unique quality that I see in other ND grads. I cannot put my finger on exactly what it is, but it is indeed there -- and it creates a special bond that even the closing of the school cannot take away. Once again, thank you, NDHS.

My days at Notre Dame were among the best of my life and were definitely the best of my youth. From my very first memory of a student assembly when then-rookie principal, Conrad Vachon, announced that "This school will have no bells" and, after talking about the new smoking section in the cafeteria, announced that he will quit smoking by tearing up a pack of cigarettes in front of everybody, to my very last memory of listening to Mr. Schusterbauer delivering a tender commencement speech on "caring", I knew I was in a very special place. The memories I carry are many, and they amuse me, teach me, and move me to this day. The Archdiocese has closed the school, but the spirit of Notre Dame will live on forever. I will do my part to make sure it does.

Thank you, Harper Woods Notre Dame High School.

John Belloli, Jr.
Class of 1978