VISIT TO MHA 
5/23/2026

John and I took a trip to MHA (my old boarding school) over Memorial Day weekend. We stayed at an adorable bed and breakfast in Jasper, reminding me how much nicer and cleaner B&B's are than mid-range hotels. 

The campus is as beautiful and serene as ever. While the dormitory is now gone--MHA closed in 2000--most everything else there is still the same, aside from the old art department building, which now houses a charming little on-site brewery. 

When we visited last summer, I noticed an abundance of painted rocks placed around the monastery grounds, so I thought I'd bring some of my own.

I painted a giraffe for Angela--she loved giraffes....

....and left it in the grotto...

Church bells signaling Saturday evening mass in downtown Ferdinand
echo throughout the campus. 

Poignant sign among the vigil lights.

I painted a few rocks bearing the old MHA logo....

(NOTE: the school was called Academy Immaculate Conception until the early '70s, 

when they rebranded as Marian Heights Academy.)

Ancient yearbook pic for reference, with the old dorms in the background.

I left my heart in Ferdinand, Indiana....

...along with a few strawberries.

The final resting place for the sisters of the monastery.

We took a stroll over to the colonnades, and I posted up on the wall overlooking the nuns' cemetery and the town of Ferdinand. Not gonna lie, this exact spot where I'm perched right here? Probably one of my top three favorite locations on earth. As a student, it's where I used to steal away for some "me time" when I wanted to journal, think, or just be. Nearly 40 years later, the feels are the same.   

Aerial photo of the campus, taken not by me.