I'm going to a boarding school next year. What do I do?

Question

I'm leaving the home I've known since I was half-a-year old to go to boarding school for hockey. I have a choice of two schools. A hockey boarding school, and a boarding school with hockey. Where should I go and what should I expect? The hockey boarding school is a small 40 student total, all-boys, grades 9-13 canadian "college" with four boys to a dorm, and slightly basic (and somewhat confusing of a schedule) academics. The other is an 800 student total, co-ed, grades 9-12 detroit boarding school, with single person dorms, and the academics is well planned out. Both are a benefit to me. I don't knoe where to go or what exactly to expect. An answer to either or both questions would be great. Where do I go? What do I expect?

Answer 1

Smaller schools give you more one-to-one contact with teachers, which can be (but is not always) good for academics. You might also get more ice time in a smaller school, but you would face fewer different styles of play.

Bigger schools (especially if they are co-ed) will give you a superior social experience by exposing you to a (potentially) wider range of students from different social/ geographical backgrounds. The competition for ice time will be fiercer because more wanna-bes are trying to get on the team(s).

Boarding schools aren't really so different from regular schools except that you live there. I went to a boarding school in high school. Old style, Episcopalian - imagine Hogwarts without the magic (or the girls; my school was single sex) or the school in "Dead Poet's Society" (Robin Williams movie 1989); 2 guys in a room. You will probably eat all your meals in a common dining hall, and some schools have (scholarship) students work as waiters/table clearers.

Getting up and going to bed time are usually strictly controlled. Some schools have teachers who actually live in the dorms (in their own private apartments) and who patrol the halls at night. Many boarding schools have a "prefect" system - prefects are like mini-cops, sometimes elected by students, sometimes chosen by the headmaster. Most schools with this system have prefects patroling the study halls and the dorms after lights out.

It's a fairly tight-knit community. Hazing/bullying is not uncommon. Building life-long friendships/networks is also not uncommon. The experience will, in large part, be what you make of it. Personally I think I'd prefer something bigger than 40 but less than 800 (maybe 300~400), but we can't always get what we want, can we? (grin) Co-ed is probably a plus.

Advice: relax, BE YOURSELF, have a good time.

Answer 2

The smaller school will benefit your focus, get some direction on the schedule so it's not confusing at all. You also get an extra year of both hockey and academics. I would choose this for those reasons.

Answer 3

if i were u i would choose the boarding school with hockey. you are going to be bombarded with change and i just think it would be best for u to make it easier on yourself. ud be used to the academic schedule, and you would have your own room to have your own space. You would be doing what you enjoy, but you would still be as comfortable as possible.

Good Luck with everything,
Lexi