What constitutes a good boarding experience? Which type of person thrives? Fails to adapt?
Hi! I am in boarding myself, and there’s no specific ‘type’ of person who thrives. Obviously, you’ll be better off if you’re more social, though there are people who just watch movies on their laptops more than talk and that’s okay because they’re still super happy. You should also know that there are usually schedules and all to be followed so if you would find it difficult to adapt, then it may not be the best for you. Also, wifi mostly sucks -_-. Overall, I think boarding’s fun, but I’d prefer to be at home if I’d pick because better wifi and less restrictions. Good luck!
If I had to pick a single attribute that I think is most important to a student’s happiness and success at boarding school, with all the caveats of a crazy generality, it’s the willingness to take risks and engage the community according to your interests and skills. From a Thacher perspective, the other trait of equal importance is the willingness to look out for the happiness of others.
Thank you both for your insights. Seems that same skillset is necessary to thrive in a local school: key is willingness to take risks and engage.
From 12345n cooments, boarding school keep students busy. However, are there top boarding schools known for actively pushing students to engage in activities and take risks, or does that mostly come from within/peers? Friendships must be more intense in boarding school too.
Yup that is so true, our school pushes us by participating in community service early morning every weekend (not mandatory but almost everyone knows as we need CAS hours to complete IB). Alongside, though they provide opportunities, they like to see initiative more, and we submit a lot of project proposals that may or may not be approved. They can be for a range of things including community service, a school dance etc. Friendships are tight though fights and cattiness also occur sometimes so you should have sass to defend yourself as well. It’s a lot of fun though, there are always rooms blasting music and getting yelled at by the dorm parent, sneaking in phones (that’s me :P) or food and just generally getting along well with everyone. Boarding is what you want it to be so it’s up to you to make it fun. Good luck!
The smaller the school, the more active it is about getting kids involved and trying new things. The larger the school, the more the impetus falls on the student to engage. A great school, and now I’m shilling for Thacher, will encourage engagement at every turn with each kid, but also drive a general culture of engagement that results in the kids themselves encouraging one another.
This is tricky, but I think that the precursor to all the rest is the basic difference between being disposed toward independence and dependence. Does the student want the security, familiarity and parental involvement that comes with being at home or can this teenager (and her parents) feel secure outside of the nest? Lots of students, maybe the majority (especially at 13-14), don’t really know the true answer to this question until they begin to board – but since more kids now choose for themselves to board, as opposed to being “shipped off”, and so have leaned independent, most get over the homesickness and go on to an intense but rewarding set of years. However, a small number decide to go home, or never lose that desire even if they stay. There is this normal percentage which goes into the attrition rate.