Whenever anyone asks me about my high school, I hesitate to tell them about it. Not because there was anything wrong with it, but because it was so unusual that people think I'm exaggerating.

Divine Redeemer Academy was a small (14 students in my senior class), Catholic, all-girls school, located in Elizabeth. Most people assume it had to be strict and rigid. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The environment at DRA was very relaxed. It was so informal that for all of my four years there, I put only my first name on all my assignments, since I was the only "Charlotte" in the school. Rather than being oppressive, the atmosphere could only be described as warm and nurturing.

Those words also describe the order of nuns who ran the school, the Sisters of the Divine Redeemer. With limited resources and an abundance of ingenuity, the sisters managed to weave together tradition and innovation to create a top-notch educational experience.

Sister Mary Alice Varga was my favorite teacher and she taught both my most favorite and least favorite subjects -- journalism and typing.

All students were required to take typing. I found the subject boring and repetitive. The first task Sister Alice had us do at the beginning of each class was a warm-up exercise. We could type whatever we wanted for about three minutes, and she would walk around the room as our fingers flew across -- or in my case, plodded along -- the keyboard.

One day, she looked over my shoulder to find me typing, "I hate typing," over and over. I heard a slight sigh and then she moved on without saying a word to me. Of course, learning to type has benefited me enormously over the years, but I'm still not very good at it.

Journalism was an extracurricular activity. That's where I discovered a love for writing. Sister Alice encouraged me to express myself through writing. She taught me everything she knew about news stories, features and editorials.

My sophomore year she made me sports editor. That was 1960, the magical year of Maz's World Series-winning home run for the Pirates.

At DRA we had to wear uniforms which consisted of blue jumpers and white blouses. On the left side of the jumper was a diamond-shaped patch with "DRA" on it. I fashioned a diamond-shaped patch out of construction paper, trimmed it with gold ribbon and wrote, "Beat 'em Bucs," on it. I pinned it on the right side of my uniform.

Not only did Sister Alice not scold me for altering my uniform, she praised my creativity. For that was what Sister Alice was all about. She was constantly fostering creativity and encouraging each one of her students to find her own voice. Sister Alice always allowed us to come up with ways to make our school paper truly our own by holding frequent brainstorming sessions.

John F. Kennedy was president then, and I used to watch his press conferences on TV. I dreamed of becoming a White House correspondent. By my senior year I was named editor-in-chief of the school paper. Sister Alice gave me the freedom to run the paper in my own style.

The highlight of my senior year came when our paper received the top award at a competition for high school newspapers sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh, and I got to deliver the good news to Sister Alice.

In my yearbook, Sister Alice wrote, "The world's dreamers are the world's doers." I took that message to heart. But in my freshman year of college, President Kennedy was assassinated and my dream died with him.

I switched my major and decided to go into teaching, using Sister Alice as my role model. I completely enjoyed my teaching years, but I never lost my love for writing, Eventually, I went back to school to get a master's degree in journalism and became a writer and editor. And I have never stopped dreaming.

DRA closed in the early 1970s, but I still stay in touch with Sister Alice, who is now 90 years old. She has slowed down physically, but she remains active in her order and still does some writing. As she once told me, "People like us have ink in our veins."

On Aug. 15, Sister Mary Alice Varga will celebrate 70 years as a nun. It's a remarkable accomplishment. But it's not nearly so remarkable as the woman herself.

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