Where'd You Go to School?
For K-8th grade, I attended two different private schools - one until 5th grade, and the other until I finished 8th grade. For high school, I went to a public high school. My undergraduate and graduate universities were public as well.
I remember being so upset as an eighth grader that my parents were going to enroll me in the public school near our house. All my friends from middle school were going to the Lutheran high school. Why couldn’t I go too? They had many reasons for this that I won’t get into, but I was not appreciative at the time.
Fast forward a couple years, and I chose my public undergraduate university. Once again, this was a big change from my high school. It was less diverse, I could choose who I hung out with, and I lived where I went to school.
Graduation from undergrad happened and I moved 9 hours away for graduate school. A new place, different weather, people with a southern accent, and no roundabouts! Definitely something new to adjust to.
So, what am I getting at with telling you my entire educational history? Where we go to school really affects who we are now! If you’re in school now, think about it. How has your current school changed you? If you’ve been out of school for a bit, think back. What parts of who you are now are because of where you went to school years ago?
Here are some examples. My nine years of private school grounded me in many of the values I still have today. It taught me how much I love a small, close community (class size = 15). And fun fact: I will never not appreciate a belt. I was required to wear one with my uniform and continued to for years afterwards.
I mentioned that I didn’t want to go to public school, but I now think my parents were wise in enrolling me in one. I had been pretty sheltered prior to public school. I had been raised and living in this little bubble that popped pretty quickly. I became more empathic of what others were going through. I learned about the importance of diversity. I also did a program that really pushed me to work hard and prepared me for college.
I won’t go into my college experiences because I think you get the point. Besides how much we learn in school, this environment really shapes us into who we are today or in the future. Sometimes this impact isn’t always good. For example, I mentioned that my private school experience left me pretty sheltered. I was not open-minded. I’ve grown in this area since then though! We have to evaluate how our school may have also had a negative effect, but if we know that that’s where it came from, then we can do something about it. “This happened to me in middle school, but here’s my story of who I am today.” So, I’ll ask again. Where did you go to school?
Challenges/Points:
Where we went to school has a bigger impact than we realize on who we are today or in the future. These experiences in our formative years really shape us.
Our schooling environment can have a positive and/or negative impact on who we are. We can embrace the positives and evaluate the negatives.
Think about your past or current schooling experience. Evaluate how these may have impacted you for better or worse.
Questions:
Have you ever thought about how your school impacts who you are?
So, where did you go to school?
Think about one positive impact and one negative impact of your school environment. What are they?
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