On the way to becoming the valedictorian of the class of 2023 at St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., Connor Shannon was a co-captain of the varsity lacrosse team that won its second straight championship this spring, and he was also a peer minister helping to run student retreats and freshman orientation.
And on her way to being the salutatorian of St. John’s class of 2023, Mari “Breana” Alcantara was a captain on the varsity swim team, a co-president of the Asian Pacific Island Student Association at her school, and she started an organization promoting women’s health.
Both students plan to become doctors someday and said that they have been inspired by the medical professionals they have witnessed. They also said the example of their parents, and St. John’s spirit of faith and community, will guide them in college and life.
Honoring her heritage
Mari “Breana” Alcantara, a 17-year-old resident of Germantown, Maryland, will be attending Brown University this fall, where as a pre-med student, she plans to major in health and human biology.
Her mother, Michelle Alcantara, works as a physical therapist, and her father, Lester Alcantara is a broadcast engineer for Montgomery County. She has three younger siblings – Bryce, who is 8; Lucas, who is 6; and Bella, who is 5. Their family attends St. Rose of Lima Church in Gaithersburg.
Alcantara said she has been exposed to the medical field her entire life, through her mother’s profession, and also through her own personal experiences, having been treated for scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, and also enduring a lymphoma scare as an eighth grader.
“I’ve just had a lot of good experiences with doctors,” she said.
The St. John’s graduating senior hopes to become an obstetrician and gynecologist someday, and during the COVID shut-down as she was taking virtual classes, she used social media to connect high school students interested in women’s reproductive health with medical professionals. She also created an organization Future OB-GYNs with an Instagram account and website, and ran webinars with guest speakers. For her Scholars Independent Study Project at St. John’s, she reviewed menstrual health education policies across the United States and conducted a student survey on that topic.
“In the future, I want to focus on education and prevention for my patients… Women’s health has been under-funded and under-acknowledged,” said Alcantara, who is interested in one day serving as a physician in a developing country.
Alcantara is a native of the Philippines and moved to the United States with her mother when she was 5. Her Filipino heritage is central to her life, she said. During her sophomore year, she and fellow students started the Asian Pacific Island Student Association at St. John’s, and they have encouraged the school to include recognition of those cultures in English, religion and history classes there. She said that in May, which is recognized as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the United States, the English curriculum at St. John’s has included lessons on API authors, and her group shares texts and media that month about API experiences.
At St. John’s, Alcantara’s favorite classes included Advanced Placement statistics, and AP calculus and AP biology. As a ninth grader, she earned the English Medal of Excellence at St. John’s, and she also received the Religion Medal of Excellence as a ninth and 10th grader.
On the swim team, she swam in 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle races. “This year, we got really close. The last few years have been rough, especially with COVID,” she said.
While Alcantara is excited to start her college studies at Brown, as her graduation from St. John’s approaches, she said, “It’s bittersweet… I’ll definitely miss everyone.” She really appreciated the community spirit at her school, where she said, “there was always going to be someone willing to support you.”
She also expressed gratitude for her parents’ example. “I’ve seen them work really hard throughout my life to support us,” Alcantara said. “They taught me the importance of God’s presence in our lives.”
Natural leader
As the oldest of five children of Roy and Sara Shannon, being a leader comes naturally to Connor Shannon as he prepares to graduate from St. John’s College High School. His younger siblings include two fellow St. John’s students – Grace, who is a junior there this year, and Claire, a freshman. His youngest siblings Liam and Audrey are students at the elementary school of the Basilica of St. Mary in Old Town, Alexandria, the family’s parish.
As the co-captain and midfielder on St. John’s varsity lacrosse team, Shannon scored a goal in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference tournament championship game on May 9 and helped lead the Cadets to a 9-5 win over Paul VI. In the season’s first game, he injured his ankle, suffering three partially torn ligaments. He recovered in time to compete in the tournament. During his junior year, the team also won the WCAC championship and was ranked #1 in the country.
The class valedictorian said the lacrosse practices and camaraderie of his teammates helped him excel in his studies.
“How intense I took academics, having those three hours (in practice) to let off steam, and hanging out with my friends, I don’t think I could have achieved what I did academically without having that outlet with my friends,” he said.
St. John’s lacrosse squad “was really one team,” he added. “…It was because of that great friendship we had, when we stepped on the field, there was no doubt we would win… We were really close and trusted each other to make the plays we needed to.”
Shannon will be attending the University of Notre Dame this fall, where in his pre-med studies he plans to major in a science like molecular biology, and minor in business and finance. He also will try out for the lacrosse team there.
“My dream is to be a doctor,” he said. “…I lean toward being a surgeon. I always wanted to be a doctor since I was a little kid.”
Like his classmate, he praised the example of his parents, the hard work of his father Roy Shannon, who has his own law firm, and the steadfast support of his mom, Sara Shannon, who does public relations work for the American Physical Therapy Association.
Connor Shannon said his family became close to doctors who helped them over the years. “I’ve seen first-hand cardiac surgeons work miracles, and that’s what I want to do,” he said.
At St. John’s, Shannon’s favorite classes included AP biology, and also world history, calculus and statistics. Being a peer minister there was especially meaningful to him, and as a senior, he was able to work with his sister Claire and her freshman classmates.
“It’s been a cool experience to support her and her friends,” Shannon said. “I came here because of the community, so being one of the people who helped build it is amazing.”
Shannon also honed his leadership skills participating for two summers in the Alexandria Youth Leadership Conference.
As his June 2 graduation from St. John’s was approaching, Shannon said he felt “excited and grateful.”
“It’s been an amazing four years,” he said. “I’m grateful for what this community has done for me, and I’m excited to see what we do next.”
Attending the Catholic high school and going on retreats there really deepened his faith, he said.
“I never thought I’d grow this much in my faith,” Shannon said, adding that the people there helped him know “my faith is with me and will be with me… That’s one thing I’ll keep close to my heart.”
Shannon wore two wristbands, including a red one with the words “Behan Strong,” reflecting the admiration that St. John’s students have for varsity boys’ basketball coach Patrick Behan, who led the team to a WCAC tournament championship in February while battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The St. John’s senior also wore a black wristband with the words “Live Jesus in our Hearts,” part of a prayer that the students say at the school sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, before responding “Forever.” Shannon explained that he got that wristband on his first day as a freshman, and has worn it there ever since.
