The Student Newspaper of Cathedral Catholic High School

Dons Press

The Student Newspaper of Cathedral Catholic High School

Dons Press

The Student Newspaper of Cathedral Catholic High School

Dons Press

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New nurse comes home

Thrust into the new 2010-2011 school year, many students find themselves succumbing to a lack of sleep and piles of stressful assignments. With a sigh of defeat, they drag themselves to the nurse’s office and venture beyond the door that bears Nurse Haley’s name, only to find that it is not Mrs. Haley waiting for them with a concerned face.

Flowing blond hair frames the grinning face of Mrs. Deborah Hilinski, Cathedral’s newest head nurse. Mrs. Eileen Haley, who had been with Cathedral for the last eight years, moved on to teaching her profession to aspiring students at University of California at San Diego. As Mrs. Hilinski settles into the newly vacated office, it seems as though she has had no trouble making herself at home – perhaps because the Dons community has been her home for over twenty years.

Mrs. Hilinski graduated from University of San Diego High School (Uni) in the class of 1982, a year before fellow Cathedral staffer Steve Anderson. She even held the position of head nurse on the old campus for a number of years. Unfortunately, when her son (now a freshman at Cathedral) suffered an injury that left him temporarily wheelchair-bound, Mrs. Hilinski resigned from Uni to care for him full time.

“When Ms. Mauro called and asked if I wanted my old job back, I was so excited,” she recalled. “The new campus is different in terms of numbers, but the feeling is the same; it’s like family.”

Although the buildings may have a new facade, the people that fill them bring back old memories. Assistant Principal Ms. Margaret Mauro was her English teacher during high school, and Mr. Danny Wilson taught her in math. She had Mr. “A” (Steve Altamirano) as well – for woodworking. “I made a planter box in his class,” she recalled.

“I was sure [back then] that I was going straight into accounting,” she reminisced. At San Diego State University she studied to achieve this dream. It was not until the end of her academic career that she realized that her people skills were put to waste in a cubicle. While working as a volunteer at Scripps Hospital, she discovered her love of nursing.

Now Mrs. Hilinski juggles two nursing careers. She can be found at Cathedral for the majority of the week but dedicates one or two days to her husband’s practice where he specializes in head and neck surgery. His practice treats injured members of the San Diego Chargers as well as visiting teams, giving Mrs. Hilinski a chance to meet professional players.

Shawn Merriman, linebacker for the Chargers, even sponsored Cathedral’s newest member in the “Susan G. Komen 3-Day For the Cure” breast cancer walk-a-thon (See video). Marshall Faulk, another NFL player and a native of San Diego, also lent his support to Nurse Hilinski.

“I have two aunts and a grandmother who are breast cancer survivors,” she explains, showing how her desire for healthy living extends beyond Cathedral’s cobble-stoned grounds.

As students slump their weary bodies into one of those nicely padded chairs that line the walls of the nurse’s office, they have no need to feel concerned. They are in the hands of a fellow Don.

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New nurse comes home