Life after Mercy: How students are moving on after school’s closing
Katie Devaney
Grade: Senior
School: Saint Anthony’s High School
In her college application essay, 17-year-old Katie Devaney begins: “Change is the only constant in life.”
She goes on to chronicle the last eight months of her life, starting March 12 with an earth-shattering announcement. Bishop McGann-Mercy Diocesan High School, where she was a junior, was to close.
In September, she traded Mercy’s green and gold for Saint Anthony’s black and gold to finish her high school career.
“The hardest thing is not being able to graduate with everyone I’ve known since seventh grade,” Katie said from her Wading River home last week.
There were no signs of the closure she can recall. Her volleyball season had been impacted by ongoing renovations in the gymnasium. Parents sought to raise funds for a second bus for the school. A prospective student open house was scheduled for the following week after the announcement came.
Clutching a tissue, Katie wiped a tear away, nodding her head in disbelief. “I was furious. I didn’t know how they could just do that to us. Telling us over email was cowardly.”
There were happy glimmers amid the uncertainty. A junior prom was held for the first time last May. Commiserating, cracking jokes and enjoying the last moments of Mercy High became a bond among students.
Since September, Katie drives 40 miles each way to the Huntington campus — a cheaper option than busing.
The first day was overwhelming.
“I didn’t know a single person in my homeroom,” she said, feeling small as the bell rang and hordes of students spilled into the halls. Mercy enrolled about 350 students in grades 7-12. In June, Katie will graduate with approximately 600 others.
Fast forward a few weeks and Katie earned a homecoming nomination.
“All the Mercy girls nominated each other,” she said, flashing a wide smile. “I thought it’d be fun to try out.”
After an interview in front of 25 other students representing different sectors of the school, she made it to the top-five and was crowned Homecoming Princess.
Whereas Mercy football games felt like a close-knit family gathering, Saint Anthony’s games feel like the big leagues, she said. Attending them has become a new Devaney family tradition.
She’s confident that she made the right choice at Saint Anthony’s, where she’s gotten involved with the student council and the exclusive Kolbe Society, a student-led peer ministry group.
As she looks to the next chapter, Katie still struggles to strike a balance between nostalgia and optimism. There are lots of unanswered questions, such as what will become of Mercy’s campus. “It would give us closure,” Katie said, to know.
Writing out those thoughts in her college essay has been cathartic. “It’s made me appreciate what I have and where I’m at.”
