Class of 2025: Ben Strabala, Sacred Heart Catholic School

Ben Strabala is a 2025 graduate of Sacred Heart Catholic School in Muenster. (NTC/Thomas Otto)

EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
 

NTC: Has all your education been at Sacred Heart?

BEN: No, I moved here from Kansas, and then before that I lived in Colorado. I’ve gone to Catholic schools my entire life. But we came to Muenster because my parents really liked the Catholic community. I've been here since seventh grade.
 

NTC: Was it a challenge, arriving in seventh grade?

BEN: Here, you hit the ground running because the community welcomed you. Everyone reached out when I got here.
 

NTC: And what are your future plans?

BEN: I’ll go to University of Oklahoma for chemical engineering; planning to do the Honors College and even get a minor in Chinese. I’m looking at doing something in sustainability or electric chemistry. We have a long way to go with renewable energy.
 

NTC: Tell me what's special about this school.

BEN: Its Catholic education across the board is just really superb. It's a great experience to get to know your faith. With Sacred Heart, that's a priority.

Ms. Bayer is just an awesome teacher. I had her for seventh and eighth grade [religion class], and she just cares so much about it. Right now, Father Hoodenpyle is my religion teacher. That's been really awesome, having a priest be your religion teacher. He's been through years and years of seminary, and so he has very quick answers for pretty much everything.
 

NTC: How have you grown as a person in your years here?

BEN: There's a big, big focus placed on service at Sacred Heart. You can see in the community that people really value service. You have people around you who are always encouraging you to volunteer for different things.

Teachers lead by example. You'll see them volunteering. Coach Schilling is a big one that likes to volunteer and his wife as well.

I've managed the football team since eighth grade. Five years. It's not strenuous, but it takes commitment to get there at 2:45, go to six o'clock at night. Coming in on Saturdays to help Danny Walterscheid with laundry — that's really been a formative experience for me at Sacred Heart.
 

NTC: Besides football team manager, what other activities have you been involved in?

BEN: I’ve done a couple different leadership activities. I've done student council. I've been my class president since freshman year, so they've elected me four years running. This year, I was the student council president and National Honor Society president as well.

I've been lucky to do that. I've really enjoyed doing that. That's given me another good opportunity to serve.
 

NTC: What have you learned at this school that you want to take with you to college?

BEN: The service, again; leading by example. If you have that foundation, like I've gotten here at Sacred Heart with people always wanting to serve, then it's a pretty easy transfer into college to keep doing that same thing.
 

NTC: Do you also serve at your parish?

BEN: Yes, I do. Every Sunday at 8:00 a.m. I help our technology teacher, Mr. Taylor, run the church livestream for the homebound parishioners of Sacred Heart Church in Muenster. They are able to still  connect, and hear what Father’s homily was that week.
 

NTC: Are you familiar with the Catholic community at OU?

BEN: I've been to their church, St. Thomas More University Parish, and visited with their priest there. They have a lot of outreach to the college students, so I’m planning to get involved with that.
 

NTC: Have you developed any habits here that you want to take with you to college?

BEN: I'd say, spiritual habits. With all of the religion classes that I've had, the door's been open for me to ask questions about the faith. It’s been clear to me that the Catholic faith always has answers.

I think a lot of people fall out of faith because someone doesn't know the answer to something, and so they feel like something isn't true because of that. Being able to talk to a priest and ask them what's the truth behind this. It definitely means a lot taking that into college because that'll help keep me strong in my faith, having that open line of communication with the priest.
 

NTC: What advice would you give to a freshman who's coming into the school?

BEN: I'd say to take advantage of the opportunities you have. Sacred Heart is a really great place to grow in your faith. We have the ability to shield ourselves from the outside world. Muenster is a bubble, almost, to help you grow in faith and help you get the right habits before you go out into the larger world. So really take that opportunity to grow in your faith, because at the end of the day, that's more important than academics because that's your salvation.
 

NTC: Students at Sacred Heart attend Mass three times a week, is that right?

BEN: Yes, Monday, Thursday, and Friday.

That’s another good part about being here, talking about building virtue and building good habits. Mass three times a week shows you that that daily Mass is important. Maybe you can't always make it, maybe it's not always built into your schedule like it is at Sacred Heart, but you should still find time to let God in your life and pray and do that daily.