2023 Catholic Schools Week

From heartbreak to the dream of helping others, a senior cherishes her Catholic education

Being part of a team has always been an important part of the high school experience for Stella Campbell, second from right, front row. Here, she shares a moment of fun with basketball teammates at Cardinal Ritter Jr./Sr. High School in Indianapolis. (Submitted photo)

By John Shaughnessy

When we lose someone we love, we naturally remember the time we shared with them and the qualities that defined them.

When we lose someone we love, we also never forget the people who comforted us during that time, who came through for us.

Two years ago, when Stella Campbell was a sophomore at Cardinal Ritter Jr./Sr. High School in Indianapolis, she lived the heartbreak of losing her dad, Tom Campbell, one month after he was diagnosed with cancer.

It’s a heartbreak she shared with her brother Harley, an eighth-grade student at the school at that time, and their mother Cheryl, who was part of the cafeteria team at the school then.

Now as a senior, Stella looks back on that time of heartbreak with a lasting fondness and a deep appreciation for the way the Cardinal Ritter community responded to her family. Indeed, it was the first thing she mentioned when she was asked about the impact of her Catholic education on her life.

“One of the main things we have here is the support system,” Stella says. “We ended up losing my dad when I was a sophomore. We had found out he had cancer a month earlier, and then he had COVID. It happened so quickly that it was hard to take in. All the teachers checked in on me and my brother. And my mother’s friends were there for her.

“It means a lot to me to have that support system. There’s always someone to talk to. And my brother and I both have a great group of friends. It’s nice to have that sense of community and faith bringing all of us together.”

That community of faith has also given Stella a foundation—and an opportunity—to develop her gifts and also to discover new ones. She has played volleyball, basketball and softball for the school all four years. She is also vice-president of the school’s pro-life club, making trips the past two years to Washington for the national March for Life.

“It was really cool to see how many people were there,” says Stella, who joined the school’s pro-life club after she was horrified when she saw a news report showing what happens to a child during an abortion. “It was very much a peaceful march, which was great to be a part of.”

Now 17, Stella is also involved in Cardinal Ritter’s campus ministry and service team, which led to one of her favorite service projects earlier in this school year.

“Me and one of my volleyball teammates set up a plan for our team to help the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Ten of us went to the food pantry, and 10 of us went to the clothing distribution center. It was great to be the ones planning it and setting it up.”

As with many students in Catholic high schools, Stella represents the reality of how much they do and how much they accomplish in their school careers.

“It’s taken a lot of time management skills,” she says. “I learned how to manage my time with sports. I also wanted to be involved with the rest of the student body, not just the athletes. You find the time for what’s important to you.”

For Stella, that priority list all starts with her relationship with God, a relationship that started during her elementary school years at St. Christopher School in Indianapolis.

“My faith is the most important thing in my life. Even at a young age at St. Christopher, we had a focus on religion each day and Mass once or twice a week. By the time we were in the sixth grade, we were having deep discussions about God, which have continued at Ritter. I’ve been reading the Bible a lot more now. I think my relationship with God is really good.”

So are the plans she has for her future. Among the top five of her senior class academically, Stella has wanted to be a neurologist since the seventh grade.

“The brain has always fascinated me. I want to learn more about it so I could be a doctor and help people.”

As she looks back upon her years at St. Christopher and Cardinal Ritter, Stella does it with gratitude for the many people who have befriended her and helped to form her. Most of all, her thanks begin and end with her mother and her father.

“My father went to a public school. I’m grateful that they both agreed for my brother and I to continue our education at a Catholic school, which is amazing.” †