Julia Bauman-Buttolo

Mr. Berner

Freshman Seminar

10 Mar 25

Hall of Fame Tribute

Tonight, we honor and recognize Divine Child Alum Julia Bauman-Butolo

as we celebrate the many achievements this individual has made throughout the

years, as we induct her into the Hall of Fame. This individual has demonstrated the

ability to overcome challenges, pursue goals, become successful, and pay forward

with their time and talents. We now share this journey with you:

Julia Bauman-Buttolo was born in Detroit, Michigan on February 3rd 2010.

She was born to Italian immigrant Pietro Buttolo and Ann Arbor raised mother

Heather Bauman. Immidietly after birth, she was admitted to the Ermengency

Room with a severe skin condition called Congenital Icthyosiform Erythraderma.

The skin condition is incurable, and has affected Julia for the rest of her life. Due

to her incurable condition, she lacks the ability to sweat and during her first year of

life had three severe skin conditions and pneumonia twice. Because her body was

fighting against her, she had to attend speech therapy to be on track with other kids

her age. Julia also has to put on mass amounts of lotion each day to prevent severe

cracking of the skin.

brother named Jace, and liberal parents. At the age of 5, her and her family joined a

local karate studio that she would train in for the next 9 years. During that time,

she collected a 2nd degree black belt and discipline and responsibility that she

wouldn’t of received anywhere else. She was also enrolled in soccer, gymnastics,

and dance. During her time in karate, she struggled severely with her own mental

health, and looked for other places to turn her attention such as drawing, reading,

crafting and writing. Julia felt left behind by her brother and father, who both got

promoted early, and had to face the reality that perhaps the martial arts studio she

was currently in might be negatively affecting her mental health. Despite this, she

continued on to earn her parents approval, even after she bought up the option of

pursuing other hobbies.

From preschool to second grade, she attended Snow Elementary, a public

school in Dearborn, before transferring to a private school called Dearborn Heights

Montessori Center. During her time at Dearborn Heights Montessori, she was put

in smaller classes, and was often isolated. After the campus shut down and moved

locations, she transferred to a Catholic School called Cabrini in Allen Park. She

attended Divine Child High School for High School.

One of her biggest issues was leaving friends behind. Many of her friends

also transferred, and one even moved to California. This forced her to have trust
issues and believe everyone will someday leave her. After meeting with three

different therapists, she faced her solution; meet other people and understand that

life is full of change. Though her friendships did change, she understood that it

wasn’t leaving her behind, it was both of them changing into new people.

During sixth grade, she discovered her love of theater when she acted in the

school play. Unfortunately the program shut down the next year the program was

shut down. However, she had a chance to continue in her pursuit of theater at

Cabrini, where instead of pursuing acting, she did show crew. She stage-managed

all through high school, and faced the difficult decision of either being in the

spotlight and receiving recognition, or working behind the scenes and doing the

work she loved doing. She learned to love crew and stage-managing as she did

many shows outside of school, looking for new experiences and opportunities.

Julia not only did theater, but also captained the ethics bowl team, and was a

competitive skater for Divine Child’s figure skating team. She was part of NHS,

link crew, and volunteered at animal shelters and soup kitchens in her free time.

Julia was a busy person by choice, enjoying the thrill and adrenaline of seeing

work done. Her enjoyment of the fine arts continued throughout her high school

years, where she took as many art electives as possible with Divine Child’s strong

art program. Encouraged by her friends she learned not to shame her art, but rather

improve and take her time with it.

philosophy and psychology, while continuing to stage-manage on the side. She was

a part of NHS and volunteered a lot in her free time, and encouraged others to

contribute to their communities in her free time. She continued to advocate for

minorities and pushed for equality throughout the world.

She did not party, drink, or deal or do drugs through high school, rather

choosing other ways to spend her time. Julia focused on her studies rather than

romance and took advantage of the amount of learning opportunities on campus.

She spent an extra two years in high school to receive her PhD and a Master’s

Degree (overachiever….) She spent an exchange year at the University of Padua in

Italy, living in her Aunt’s old apartment.

During her exchange year, she visited friends in Scotland and went

backpacking across the Dolomites. She also went train hopping across Europe,

before settling down in London. She enjoyed learning about different cultures, and

seeing how different places could be improved in different ways. Though she did

struggle with homesickness, she enjoyed a changed in pace and scenery, before she

started working.

Throughout college, she made new friends, among both the students and

teachers, and remained in contact with both her mother and father. She also wrote

papers and a novel during college, focusing on equality and how emotion and logic
are interwoven in every argument. She likes to say she was a mature person, and

could view both sides, but was very stubborn about her side at the same time.

Her first job was as a clinical psychologist with the funding to continue her

philosophy papers- though she returned to college to get a classical degree(where

she got the money, we’ll never know) She also did stand up comedy, had her own

podcast, and business. She did not sleep because sleep is for the weak.

She saved for retirement from a young age, and was able to retire by 50,

though she continued everything but clinical psychology. Instead, she focused on

advocating for mental health, and focused on the deeper meaning of life. She

believed in the deeper meaning of life, and says that after 50 years of life she spent

productively.