Lori Colonna graduated from Villa Maria Academy as part of the class of 1998. She chose to go to Villa to be able to be closer with her friends and planned to play softball there as well. In choosing Villa, she was able to become closer with her friends and play softball as well as being able to follow a career in cosmetology at the Toni and Guy hairdressing Academy.

Colonna said that even before she went into high school, she had a plan to become a cosmetologist. But with going to Villa, she spoke about how at the time, Villa helped to prepare her for the real world and the future of technology in a small way.

“What prepared me for the world most were the classes I had on how to do taxes and balance a check book,” she said. [Villa] taught about mortgages and things that came in use during and after high school. I took a computer class that taught Word and Excel and the formulas; now it is all done for you. We had one computer lab my freshman year. That may help put into perspective how new it was to have them and to learn on them.”

Colonna also mentioned a baking class from which she still has and uses the recipe cards today. Past school related items, she said Villa really helped her to be prepared for the responsibilities as an adult, and to be better prepared for becoming a mother of three, even with having to deal with cliques at Villa.

“Villa helped me as a mother just by preparing me for the adult responsibilities and giving me the tools I needed when becoming a mom,” Colonna said.

With the announcement of the consolidation of Prep and Villa, Colonna wasn’t affected by it in the beginning, until some of the scenery of the Villa campus began to come down.

“The merger didn’t bother me much until I saw that they were squeezing everyone at Prep and tearing down beautiful buildings when the Villa Campus is beautiful and huge,” she said.

Even with the changes, she said she hopes that Prep will hope to keep certain traditions that Villa had back when she went there to help keep the Victor spirit alive. Some of the things she hopes to keep great are Sports Day, Mary’s Day, and the white dresses worn by the women at graduation.

Colonna believes greatly that there have been enough changes with the merger going on and hopes that the Victor Spirit can live on through and in the new school.