Ryan Bilodeau ‘03 -On Literature and Life: Mr. Lawrence’s Tenure at Mount marks 50 years

In eating a banana and drinking a Coke each day on the way to tennis practice, my high school English teacher Mr. Lawrence taught me as much outside the classroom about life as he did about literature inside of it. I learned by his actions — although arbitrary — the importance of good habits and the role they play in achieving excellence. And for a young high school student of faith, there might have been no more valuable a lesson than the importance of a virtuous life. Twenty years later I myself am a high school theology teacher at Bishop Brady in New Hampshire where I try my hardest to exemplify what Mr. Lawrence has embodied for the last 5 decades, namely that the lessons high school students learn are gleaned as much from what teachers do as what they say. This year marks the 50th time Mr. Lawrence will walk through the halls of Mount Saint Charles as a teacher of literature and life. Imagine how many lives he has changed during his tenure!

-Ryan Bilodeau, MSC ‘03