Hey, my best friend may be going to a boarding school for 2 years and coming home in the holidays but she's not sure what to expect or anything. So, I'm asking you all now if any of you have ever gone to a boarding school? What's it like? What to expect? I bet she'll be thankful for any help, so please reply if any of you know anything! Love, Borut
I went to one, but experiences vary from school to school. I bitched and moaned the whole way through as your life is planned down to the minute each day between class, sports, formal meals etc - just very structured. However, once I graduated I recognized that it was a fantastic experience. Its a tough grind do to the structure, many don't make it through and many end up dropping out of college after there first year as going from complete structure to complete freedom tends to make one go a bit nuts on the partying.
For some, it's like a small college...total freedom, independence, etc. For others it can be tough. Many boarding schools are very small. It means you really can't escape from people, everything is public knowledge, you can't hope to lose someone in a crowd of a few thousand other students. Some boarding schools really make things feel like family... small houses as residences so people bond really closely. Other places it's dorms. It all depends on the school. Boarding school can be really good, but it has to be what you want, you want a good fit to your academic and social interests. It also depends where you are from... for some people, boarding school is essentially their only shot at a good education.
I went to two boarding schools in my youth: one in London, England and another in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland. My experience with it can be best described by these two words: excellence and classist. Both experiences were, to a certain extent similar so I'll talk about my experience at the British school. The environment was probably the biggest asset to going to a boarding school. You get to hang out with friends and live and work independently. There are no parents. The catch is that you must learn to use self discipline. Well, apparently since the 16th century, this school had established ancient hazing rituals to ensure this. I could assure you that my first few months were absolute hell. Soon, however, everything suddenly seemed normal. The quality of the instructors was beyond splendid, despite what I would have admitted at the time, and in general the pupils were intelligent and outstanding in some way. Yet... what bothers me now about it is the incredible amount of elitism in such an institution. Some kids received special treatment just based on their dad being the prime minister, or in the house of lords or whatnot. I couldn't care, myself. In retrospect... the environment, while extremely conducive to learning was its own bubble. There were stables for riding and courts for lawn tennis and cricket. Sure, it was fun. But I wish I had seen more of the real world. It's not all a grassy campus.
