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Mindfulness: You’re Never too Young to Start Healthy Habits

Involved, Engaged and Thriving

Moms and dads have a new craze to combat: Outsourced Parenting. Boarding schools allow your children to learn autonomously while your bond grows even deeper.

Being a teenager is hard. School can be challenging, sports demand a lot of your time, and you’re expected to fit in other activities like volunteering and interning into an already-packed schedule. Not to mention the social pressures to have tons of (Instagram-worthy!) fun with your friends. And while you can’t actually add more hours into the day — trust us, every adult in history has tried — you can find ways to make the most of the minutes you have.

If you’ve gotten on the Internet anytime in the 2010s and beyond, you’ve surely encountered the term “mindfulness.” Along with it, different techniques to pursue it and plenty of benefits once it’s achieved. Perhaps you’ve downloaded a meditation app or attempted a yoga class, or maybe you’re overwhelmed at such a strange notion. Either way, you’re right to be curious because mastering mindfulness at an early age could truly be the secret to success.

Wherever You Go, There You Are

How does boarding school fit into the complicated puzzle of mental well-being, finding balance and achieving a more mindful state? The short answer is location, location, location: in every sense of the word. Starting with the actual, physical location. You see, boarding schools are intentional with everything from building architecture, curriculum design and socialization techniques.

“Unlike standard high schools, these campuses are designed for you to truly feel at home.”

Unlike standard high schools, these campuses are designed for you to truly feel at home. There are resources, facilities, outdoor spaces and, most importantly, supportive adults at every turn. More and more studies are demonstrating the importance of safe spaces for teens to take a break from code switching — student, young professional, friend, athlete, etc. — to just be. Boarding schools are uniquely equipped to provide a more comprehensively safe space for their students. From classrooms and libraries to dorms, dining halls and common spaces, there is a familiarity that helps students feel comfortable in their own skin.

 

Part of That World

The camaraderie and comfort that boarding school campuses provide is just the start, though. Opportunities to practice mindfulness are quite literally becoming part of many curricula across the boarding landscape. Schools are turning their attention to equipping teens to manage life’s many stresses by focusing on balance and prioritization. In fact, some of our schools have full courses dedicated to mindfulness.

“At a time when societal pressures and peer influence is at an all-time high, it’s more important than ever to be aware of emotions and how they may affect day-to-day life.”

Whether specifically a part of each day’s studies or an added bonus, boarding schools understand the importance of incorporating mental health awareness for teens. At a time when societal pressures and peer influence is at an all-time high, it’s more important than ever to be aware of emotions and how they may affect day-to-day life. That’s why they employ more mental health and adolescent psychologists than standard schools.

 

From the Inside Out

Taking control of your health is an important skill and one that is best acquired sooner rather than later. Oftentimes, teens who are living under the same roof as their parents rely on those parents to schedule doctor appointments, make healthy choices and encourage wellness, and so, when they venture off to college and beyond, they may not even know where to begin.

Fostering independence, as it pertains to health and well-being, is at the core of every boarding student’s life but, unlike in college, they don’t have to do it alone. Every campus has a plethora of wellness resources available to its student body. And if you don’t know where to start, someone can help guide you in the right direction.

“When surrounded by like-minded peers who are taking accountability for mental health and supported by a network of professional mentors, it promotes a healthier, happier and more successful life.”

The end result of these concentrated efforts, comes in the form of a more well-rounded student body. With such an emphasis on the important things, it’s nearly impossible to not pay attention to what’s going on inside your head and heart. When surrounded by like-minded peers who are taking accountability for mental health and supported by a network of professional mentors, it promotes a healthier, happier and more successful life.

Ready to experience it for yourself? Connect with us or find the perfect school for you.

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Students

4 Ways to Beat Homesickness When Away From Home for the First Time

How to Make Boarding School Feel Like Home

It’s easy to miss the familiarity of home when flying the coop for the first time. Here are four ways to make your new school a home away from home.

We get it. The thought of leaving a place that is familiar is overwhelming and may be the biggest reason you’re apprehensive about boarding school. But much like any fear in life, identifying it and addressing it will help you take its power away. Here are four ways to beat homesickness…and get back to enjoying the adventure you’re on.

We know how you’re feeling, and we can assure you—it’s totally normal. The good news is that you’re getting it out of the way before college hits! The other good news is that you can be prepared. For many people, anticipating something is actually way harder than going through it. (Think about what it was like to go to the doctor and get a shot as a kid!) Knowing that you may feel a little sad or out of place, you can devise a plan to make things familiar and comfortable.

Bring along photos or keepsakes that remind you of friends and family. Decorate your dorm room with things that make it feel more like home. Start a blog to keep track of your adventures and let your loved ones be a part of them. Make dates to video chat or a good ol’ fashioned phone call — or hey, even write a letter!

Don’t worry, we don’t mean actual homework. We mean doing some research on what awesome things to expect once you get to school. Excitement for what’s to come can help tame some of that anxious anticipation you’re experiencing. Plus, if you familiarize yourself with the campus and all it has to offer, you can spend less time worrying about getting lost and more time getting involved.

“The great part about boarding school campuses is that they’re designed to be inclusive and make you feel comfortable.”

Whatever you’re most excited about, make a plan to try it out as soon as you set foot on campus. Once you know where you’ll be and what you can do there, you can create little rituals that help you feel more at home. The great part about boarding school campuses is that they’re designed to be inclusive and make you feel comfortable. It’ll only take a few days to start to feel like home!

Sure, Facetime and Skype will help beat those “I miss mom” blues, but you should also use technology to prepare! Ask schools for ways to get in contact with future classmates or current students. Teens who have already spent time at your prospective school can help answer any questions you may have in an honest, candid and way-cooler-than-an-adult-could kind of way.

Many schools also have ways to connect you with your areas of passion and interest. If you’re attending boarding school to pursue ballet or are a STEAM whiz, then you can bet there are a few other people just like you! There is great comfort in familiarity, and even though the surroundings may look different, if you’re crazy about the same things then you’ll feel like you’re exactly where you belong.

Perhaps one of the most amazing things about boarding schools are the resources they provide. From the world-class academics to professional-level extracurricular activities, boarding schools take, well, everything seriously. That is especially true when it comes to making students happy, healthy and comfortable. There are physical and mental health professionals — and, of course, a whole new community of peers — who are always available to ensure that you’re adjusting to your new normal.

Whether you just want to talk to someone once or twice or think you’d like a more consistent conversation about your adjustment, the school is there to help. Plus, your fellow students are all familiar with the way it feels to leave home and can offer what worked for them to overcome their homesickness.

Find out what real boarding school students  want you to know about the boarding school experience — or check out what boarding school is really like (#IRL) on our ‘gram.

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Top 10 Questions Asked During Boarding School Interviews

Preparing for a Boarding School Interview?

Here’s a list of the top 10 questions most frequently asked during boarding school interviews. Proper preparation can help you ace your entrance interview. Let’s get started!

Baylor School (Chattanooga, Tennessee)

We rounded up some of our favorite boarding school students and asked them what they remembered from their entrance interviews. Use this list and our helpful admission tips to put yourself in position to nail your boarding school interview. Though each school has its own criteria, there are a few questions you can expect walking into any interview. Here are the top 10 boarding school interview questions.

  1. Why are you pursuing a boarding school education?
    Schools are going to be curious about what you’re looking to get out of a boarding education. Be prepared to explain how you think their particular school will enable you to achieve your goals.

  2. What is the most important thing you can learn in school?
    You may want to think outside the box about this one. Yes, academics are critical to educational success, but what else? How can boarding school prepare you, completely, for future success?

  3. What is your current school like? What do you like about it and what would you change?
    Showing that you’re invested in your education, wherever it is, demonstrates the kind of dedication for which boarding schools are looking. Be honest and let them know what you value.

  4. Describe your personal strengths and weaknesses.
    This is a question you’ll hear time and time again throughout your adult life. From boarding schools to potential employers, people are always curious about your levels of self-awareness.

  5. Are you involved with extracurricular activities?
    Chances are, if you’re pursuing boarding school, you’re an active and engaged individual! From athletics and the arts to more niche hobbies, it’s important to show how you spend your time and that you’re skilled at managing it.

  6. Tell us about an accomplishment that has made you feel especially proud.
    This can certainly be academic-related, but it doesn’t have to be. Perhaps you’ve coordinated a fundraising or volunteer effort, written your own music, or helped a family member in need—the important thing here is passion.

  7. Tell us about a time where you’ve demonstrated leadership.
    Again, this is a great opportunity to showcase how you are able to take initiative whether in the classroom, on the field, or in a lab. Boarding school is a place where leaders are created, show them your potential.

  8. What do you think you might study in college?
    You may not know, and that’s okay. This question is more to show that you’ve at least considered what your future may look like and what might like to learn. Don’t dwell on the details, but be sure to have some aspirations to share.

  9. Tell us about your family and personal life.
    Just as important as your education and future goals, boarding schools want to see a well-rounded person who values community. This is a chance to show your personality and talk about people and places that are important to you.

  10. What questions do you have for us?
    And you better have some! This will show that you’ve done the research and have a point-of-view about your educational future. They will want to see that you have your own criteria for success.

As you read through these and begin to brainstorm, remember, there is no right or wrong answer to any of these. Rather, focus on how your responses can highlight all of the aspects of your personality and habits that make you a prime candidate for their school.

Whether you’re interviewing for a school soon or just starting to explore your options, we’re dedicated to helping you find the right boarding school. Visit us at readyformore.com/students to learn more.

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Students

How to Tell Your Parents You Want to Go to Boarding School

Get Your Parents on Board with Boarding School

Not sure how your parents will react? Here’s everything you need to talk about boarding school with your parents.

Talking to your parents, or any adult, really, isn’t always easy. It would be great if you could slide into their DMs or @ them with your thoughts and feelings but, let’s face it, Candy Crush on Facebook is a little more their speed. So, how do you bring up the fact that you’d really like to attend a boarding school?

Shawnigan Lake School (Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia)

 

Let’s Talk

First, relax, there is nothing your mom and dad want more than to have a conversation (any conversation!) with you. All it takes is you saying, “Mom and Dad, I’d like to talk to you about something,” and they’ll be here for it. Sometimes it helps to let them know how important it is to you that they listen. Parents are humans, too, and sometimes listening is hard.

The Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tennessee)

 

Come Prepared

Do your homework! (It’s good practice for the independence you’ll experience at boarding school.) Here’s a good checklist of talking points and here’s a boarding school locator to help you determine where you may fit in best. Are sports programs or outdoor opportunities important to you? Rigorous STEM curriculum options or military academies? Preparing your talking points can also help you decide what kind of education you want. Your parents will take you seriously if you take your future seriously.

Groton School (Groton, Massachusetts)

 

Become an Expert

You know your parents and can probably guess the kinds of questions they’ll have. We’ve also talked to a lot of moms and dads to determine the most frequently asked topics they have in deciding boarding school is right for their family. From the emotional to the academic, your parents always want the best for you. They may wonder how involved they can be from a distance—the answer is a lot! And, of course, they will want to know how boarding school will prepare you for the future. Be patient and ready to address these with the people who love you most.

It won’t hurt to share some boarding school success stories with your parents either.

Boarding school is a big decision, and your parents will ultimately help you know whether it’s the right one for you. Ready For More? Visit Contact TABS.

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Students

Boarding school is the “weird social experiment gone amazingly right” you need—and eight students’ reasons why.

Is Boarding School Really Like What You See In the Movies?

Eight students tell it like it really is.

Boarding schools can be a mysterious place to those without an inside view. Instead of telling you, in our words, what sort of impact a boarding school can have, we’ll let actual boarding school students speak for themselves.

 

1. It’s the push you need to go where you may not have gone on your own.

“Millions of opportunities are offered to you here, you just have to take the step to go for it and get it.” —Emily, Trinity College School

 

2. Boarding school doesn’t rely on the classroom to teach you things.

“I’ve always valued my education and strived to learn as much as I can, but this place has taught me many lessons that have proven invaluable, and most of them haven’t even taken place in the classroom.” — Zach Jennings, Hyde School

 

3. But the classroom is a powerful place. It’s a fast track to the best colleges in the nation.

“Culver Academy opened the doors for the top colleges for her and full scholarships to Ivy League. The education is outstanding.” —Canterina Conti, Culver Academy

 

4. You’ll learn who you really are…and why you’re amazing.

“I came here to find my independence and self-confidence. I really feel that I opened up as a person here.” —Joli, Westover School

 

5. And you’ll learn how to embrace others for who they are.

“Porter’s is what I needed…being here has allowed me to grow confident, strong and, most importantly, kind.” —Christina T., Miss Porter’s School

 

6. You’ll broaden your horizons for all of the right reasons.

“Be a servant of the world because it’s your responsibility as a human…not a box to check off for college.” —Kyle Mason, Cate School

 

7. It’s not all fun and games…but a lot of it is!

“Field courses, outdoorsy adventure sports, small classes, extracurricular activities help shape this diverse yet connected learning environment. Where else can you kayak, rock climb, mountain bike, ski, do robotics, or hike as your required sports activities?” —Elizabeth Cadwell, The White Mountain School

 

8. It’s weird and amazing and perfect—just like you.

“Boarding is like a really weird social experiment gone amazingly right. You get to know people really well. You get to meet people you never would have met before.” —Max Winebrenner, Asheville School

 

Ready to experience it for yourself? Find the school that’s right for you. 

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Students

Finding Your Authentic Voice

What’s going away for school really like—in real life?

Hear from Westtown School student Yiheng Xie on how he was able to find his voice, and sense of purpose, at boarding school.

As a new ninth-grader at Westtown—a 14-hour plane ride from his home—Yiheng Xie was once told his accent was hard to define. In this (abridged) reflection delivered at graduation, Yiheng explores the connection between voice and family history—the “grit and sand” in his words—and how every person and experience we carry with us, can leave its mark.

My freshman-year proctor once said, “You have a unique accent.” It couldn’t be easily defined—it wasn’t simply Chinese or American, refined or crude. Puzzling over why, I decided to trace its origin.

Ever since I was a kid, I have been collecting snippets of my parents’ childhood to complete this giant puzzle of where I came from. For every summer I could remember, my parents would take me to our hometown. When the asphalt highway gives way to gravel roads, and finally bumpy dirt paths, we would be back in rural Anhui and Jiangsu, where unassuming homes are scattered among canola fields and rice paddies.

When Mom was young, she would spend nights studying under the kerosene lamp, and wake up with a nose filled with soot. On rainy mornings, my father’s shoes would be caked with mud, and his walk to school on a near-empty stomach would become a trudge. Somehow they became the first college students in their village.

My parents were first-generation immigrants in the city of Shanghai, and Shanghainese take great pride in their refined vernacular. I never learned to speak Shanghainese as a kid. Instead, I spoke a mixture of rural dialect and Mandarin—raw and inelegant. I faced scrutiny when I answered teachers’ questions. I felt different, and took note that language was the key into a community.

When I came to Westtown, the shifting of context yet again highlighted the thickness in my tone, this time in English. My accent was gritty. But it was in the freshmen English course, TheOutsider in Literature—the very role I occupied both in literature and in this foreign land—when I realized my voice mattered. I wasn’t just encouraged to contribute to discussions but was expected to; yet, I stumbled, messily stringing words together to share my ideas. I was determined to speak with an authentic American accent.

Luckily, I’ve been surrounded by many authentic voices. At Westtown, we gather weekly in the Meeting House in purposeful silence, which is broken only when messages are shared. Through listening closely to the stories in our community, I’ve realized the authentic American accent is impossible to define, and the importance of our words lies far less in how we say them than in the meanings they hold.

I have come closer to understanding both the grit and sand in my accent, and the soot and mud in my family’s memory. At this place where my difference was valued, I have finally unpacked the gift my parents have left me. My accent really isn’t my accent after all. It is the mixture of every person I have ever talked to. I pick up small phrases and intonations from my friends and teachers, and they’ve merged.

In these fleeting moments we share, it is reassuring to know that I will be carrying bits and pieces of each of us—in my accent, my habits, and the way that I think.  Although these marks are sometimes confusing for me, and unexpected to strangers, they are my story.

Learn more about boarding school or kick-start your journey at Contact TABS.

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Students

What’s Boarding School Like IRL?

Photo courtesy of Tristin Sienkiewicz, Hawaii Preparatory Academy '17

What’s Boarding School Like IRL?

Here, you’ll experience more, do more and be more—because the experience of a lifetime is the everyday at boarding school. What are you waiting for?
So, you’re thinking about boarding school. Is it right for you? Sure, the exciting adventures, leading academic programs and independence sound great—but what is going away for school really like—in real life? See and hear it from actual students. The world is your classroom. Real learning doesn’t need to happen in a stuffy room. In fact, some of the best lessons are found high atop a mountain or rafting down a rapid or, you know, riding a wave.
Photo courtesy of: Tristin Sienkiewicz, Hawaii Preparatory Academy ’17

The experience of a lifetime is every day at boarding school. With campuses throughout the US and Canada, boarding schools provide a really great education in a really beautiful world.

Your day is your own. Why wait until college to have a say in how you spend your time? After all, nothing really prepares you for the future like practice. In boarding school, you can coordinate a schedule that best suits your academic, extracurricular and personal goals.

The Association of Boarding Schools conducted a study that showed boarding school students were 78% more likely to feel prepared for the independence, social aspect and time management needed in college than just 23% of their public school peers.

The best academics. Period. All of the important classes are still there, but the teachers are able to focus specifically on how you learn best. From cultivating your writing skills to solving complex equations, traditional academics are way more engaging than at regular and private-day high school. Plus, you’re surrounded by friends and students who motivate you to do your best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=Vwt2X4NOkuc

Not just a school—it’s your school. High school can be exciting and a little bit scary to think about. Boarding schools emphasize growth while offering the right amount of guidance for you to become the best student, athlete, scientist, researcher, rock star, friend…and human…you can be. You’re able to live on your own, but you don’t have to feel lonely.

“Boarding is like a really weird social experiment gone amazingly right. You get to know people really well. You get to meet people you never would have met before.”

IRL, boarding school sets you up for the future you deserve. Learn more about boarding school or kickstart your journey at Contact TABS.