Kaleigh Frigon: A Dream Fulfilled

Senior Kaleigh Frigon was in third grade when she asked her dad “Why do I need to do well in elementary school?” He replied, “Well, if you do well in elementary school, you’ll do well in high school and then you can get into Notre Dame.”

Nine years later on Saturday, Dec. 21 she received a packet from Notre Dame in the mail. A packet that held the acceptance letter to her dream school inside.

Frigon ripped the letter open and immediately ran outside on that rainy Saturday to her dad, tears in her eyes and shouted “Daddy, I got in!”

It had always been her dream. Frigon wanted to go to Notre Dame because she was born in Chicago and lived the first couple months of her life in Southbend while her dad was in MBA school there.

“I’ve been born and raised Notre Dame,” Frigon said. “I’ve known the fight song since I was four and would wear Notre Dame cheerleading outfits around the house.”

She wanted to be like her dad and her aunts and uncles and her grandfather Pop Pop who had all attended Notre Dame. She’d spent countless game days on the campus, one in particular that left a large impact on her.

When she was in fourth grade, she was at the “family reunion” football game. USC vs. Notre Dame football game at Notre Dame. USC is a big rival and Frigon recalls getting really into the game with her dad. The Fighting Irish were down by four with 30 seconds left in the game. Brady Quinn, the Quarterback at the time, ran the ball into the end-zone and dove, just getting the ball in by inches.

“Everyone just went crazy,” Frigon said. “It was then that I realized this is Notre Dame. This is what I want and this is where I want to be.”

Getting into Notre Dame was anything but easy for her with her hard class load and late nights studying.

“I wanted to give up about halfway through last year,” Frigon said. “I was in Honors Physics and AP Calc BC and I didn’t want to do it anymore.”

There was one thing that always kept Frigon going; Pop Pop, he is buried in the new mausoleum on the Notre Dame campus.

“When I felt like giving up last year, I just kind of thought about what my Pop Pop would’ve said to me,” Frigon said. “And he would’ve said, ‘if you don’t want to go to Notre Dame that’s fine, but if you want to go there you need to push through it and it gets better and it’ll get easier.’”

Frigon is the first grandchild to carry on the tradition of attending Notre Dame and it’s all for her Pop Pop. Even though he’s not here she can still feel that he’s proud of her and still with her.