<p>On August 16, I moved into room 18 in my dorm, which would be my home for the next year. The first week of school was spent adjusting to the load of homework and getting to know people in my dorm and in my classes. I had Algebra I, English I, Piano I, Physics, World History I, Study Hall, and Latin I. By the end of the third week of school, my schedule had changed from Algebra I to Honors Geometry. I was making As in all of my classes after a ton of hard work. The next few weeks went on with a couple of crying sessions when I couldn’t understand something in my class or got a bad grade on a history test. By the end of the first six weeks, I had all As and Bs and was out of study hall. Instead, I had a free period. By the end of the first quarter, I managed to bring all of my grades up to As, with three A-s, 2 As, and an A+. Socially, the adjustment was much harder. When you’re thrown into a room with someone you barely know, it can either be really great or really bad. Fortunately for me, my roommate and I tend to get along pretty well. We avoid arguing with each other, and although fighting is inevitable, we spend the majority of our time getting along. The first month or so was the hardest. We knew each other but not very well. There were lines we couldn’t cross, things we would try to say that wouldn’t come out right, and just some general disagreements. We hadn’t gotten used to the other’s sleeping patterns, and overall, we just didn’t know each other. After my soccer season ended, I was spending more time in the dorm, and my roommate started braiding my hair at night or just fixing it to be ready the following morning. She’s a lot more girly than me. As funny as this seems, having the nightly routine of showering and then her braiding my hair has brought us closer together. We haven’t had any major disagreements (other than “your music sucks”) in the last three weeks or so, which is a lot harder than it seems. Attending a small school with less than 65 kids in your grade is very hard, especially when there are only 6 other female boarders. My roommate and I aren’t great friends outside of the dorm, simply because we lie in separate social circles. Out of the five other girls in my grade, I have only really felt drawn to two of them. Both are students who live around an hour away, and they live in rooms 19 and 20. Living next to your best friends can be great, but it can also suck. When you spend almost all day every day with someone, whether it’s in class or in the dorm, your friendship becomes strained. Ultimately, I have not lost any friends I have made so far, even though I have been involved in a couple disagreements with the girl I would call my best friend. Being friends with day students is equally as hard because they leave in the evening. You don’t get to see them all the time, and they aren’t there on the weekends, either. I have around five friends in my dorm, and I have even more friends that are day students. I’m friends with a couple of seniors, a couple of juniors, a few sophomores, freshmen (like myself), and a few eighth-grade boarders. I have friends from China, Oklahoma, Georgia, Russia/Germany, Washington, Turkey, and more. The first quarter can suck, but it can also be great. It all depends on how you take it. If I had taken things more seriously and worried more, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. I wouldn’t be nearly as happy about the way things have worked out, and I would be a lot more stressed out. When you go to boarding school, you can’t be uptight. You can’t focus solely on grades because your social life will collapse around you. You can’t focus solely on you social life, either, because your grades will fall. You have to learn how to balance between your social life and your grades, and it isn’t always an easy thing to do. You have to learn to make grown-up decisions, and you have to have the self-control not to eat junk food all the time. You have to discipline yourself and make sure you get your homework done because no one is there to tell you to do it. Your roommate won’t tell you to do your homework, and your parents aren’t there to tell you. You have so much more responsibility that starts as soon as you step foot onto the campus, and you can never really prepare for it. Ultimately, boarding school isn’t what you first think it is. You can spend the entire summer trying to prepare, but it won’t work. It doesn’t matter how much research you do on your new school, you’ll still not be prepared for the first week of school. If you get along with your roommate, your life becomes so much easier. Nothing is ever perfect between roommates, but you can have a good relationship with yours, if you both aim for it. Boarding school is a challenge, but it’s one of the best challenges you can face. If anyone wants to ask me about boarding school, I’m glad to answer! </p>
<p>Interesting post, thanks. I just have to ask what school starts in the middle of August? </p>
<p>Thank you for sharing. Good luck for the rest of the year!
In our local school district, all schools start mid August in sweltering heat, and end before Memorial Day. Ugh. </p>
<p>The Webb School in Bell Buckle. It’s pretty common in Tennessee. My public school from before started around August 6th or 7th each year. </p>
<p>WHAT?! I thought August 26 was too early…</p>