Boarding School

For some parents, it is their worst nightmare. For others, it cannot come soon enough. Life changes a lot when a child leaves home for the first time. Usually the child is feeling most of these same emotions his or her parents are going through, whether excitement or trepidation. So what could convince a family to go through this experience of separation four years earlier than the average family? Can attending high school at a Seventh-Day Adventist boarding academy really be worth the costs? I attended an Adventist boarding academy for all four years of high school, and from my personal experience, I would say the answer is yes. I know there are many others who would agree with me. There are many problems associated with boarding academies besides the fact that children are living away from home at what seems like a young age. The most obvious issue is the monetary price tag involved. Attending academy does not run cheap these days. A price tag of around ten thousand dollars is seemingly insurmountable to many families, especially when compared to the free public school system right in their own town. Another problem brought up is all the things students are missing that a public school setting would provide. Most academies have few or even no sports teams that compete with other schools, no proms or dances, and many fewer clubs and similar groups to join. Most academies have between fifty and two hundred students, whereas public high schools average closer to one thousand students, which would theoretically provide many more social opportunities. Consequently, many of the issues surrounding boarding academies are simply small school verses big school discrepancies. Numerous studies on academic achievement, behavioral problems, and student-teacher relationships have proven that a smaller student body is often more beneficial to the

students (Cotton). This makes a large degree of sense, as the teacher-student ratio is much greater in smaller schools. More important than the student-teacher ratio is the care the teachers put into their teaching. There have been no studies done on how much care teachers put into their work, but the teachers at the academy I attended cared a lot. Whenever I needed help, they would take time out of their schedules for me. They were nearly always accessible since they lived just across the road from the campus. However, this level of caring did not end at the academics. It was actually surpassed by the caring they had for their students spiritual growth. The best thing that most teachers in the Adventist school system have going for them is that they are not only teaching, but witnessing as well. This brings up the strongest reason to attend an Adventist boarding academy the Christian environment. It is no secret that many young adults who grow up in the Seventh-Day Adventist church are leaving the church once they are out on their own. One reason for this is that they feel out of place in society. Between all the scheduling conflicts on Friday nights and Saturdays and the stresses of peer pressure, many Adventist youth find it just too difficult to remain true to God during these tumultuous years of hormones and growth. Now look at an Adventist boarding academy, where the majority of a students peers will be practicing Adventists. It is a wonderful thing to be able to discuss religious things and pray with ones classmates and not be viewed as odd for it. During my years in academy, I had the opportunity to be involved in worship services, Week of Prayer programs, and a Bible study group in the dormitory. As previously stated, the dedicated Adventist staff members constantly contribute to the spiritual atmosphere as well. When all is said and done, there is a much greater likelihood of a Seventh-Day

Adventist teenager remaining a Seventh-Day Adventist if they remain in a setting conducive to their spiritual growth. Does this mean that public school students are doomed to lead lives of depravity? No, many teenagers have gone through the public school systems and continued to lead wonderful Christian lives. In fact, they will have learned many valuable lessons by the time they have made it through the inherent temptations in the world. This is another problem people may have with private academies, that they shelter students from getting to know what the real world is like and thus do not adequately prepare them for life beyond school. Parents who are worried that their child will not grow up if they send him or her off to boarding school away from the real world need to remember that this child will be living by him or herself. Students in a boarding academy setting must learn responsibility as they take care of their own needs. There is no mother there to wake you up in the morning if you sleep past the alarm. At academy I had to learn how to do laundry and iron. I had to clean my room, not just pick up my things. I had to learn how to tie my own tie, and as a result wound up tying half of the ties on freshman hall before church every Saturday. The realization of just how much I relied on my parents was a big step for me as I matured. Another aspect of academy life that helps students grow up are the work experience programs. At many Seventh-Day Adventist academies, all students are required to have an on-campus job. These jobs range from custodial to food services to teacher assistants, or readers. As employees of the academy, students receive hourly wages that go towards their bill, helping with the most severe problem families have with private schooling. At academy, I worked as a reader for the math teacher. I graded papers and tutored students. During my senior year, I worked as a resident assistant in the dormitory. Besides helping with my bill and teaching me responsibility, these experiences helped me decide what I wanted to do in the future. I am currently studying to be a high school math teacher.

I also learned plenty of things at academy about the real world, outside of Adventist life. No environment can be perfect, and there were always students at my academy who were not adding to the Christian atmosphere. At times, we had to deal with the problems of stealing, hazing, and even drugs, things commonplace in a typical public high school. There is no escaping these issues completely. However, in a Seventh-Day Adventist boarding academy students will face them much less frequently, and they will be faced in the light of a Christian environment. Creating the facilities and paying staff wages, all without government funding, costs a great deal of money. Boarding academy tuition rates are rising everywhere. Many families would love nothing more than to keep their children in Christian education, but just do not have the money available to pay for it. Each academy has some sort of Worthy Student Fund that was created to help families like these. Still, a family might deem the sacrifice required too great. If a family had no other issue with Adventist education other than the high price, I would ask them this question. What price would you be willing to pay to help your son or daughter be saved? Academy is no guarantee of salvation, but it is the best school environment available to an Adventist teenager. I loved my time in academy. Of course, there were difficult times and times I longed for home. These experiences helped me grow. I made so many close friends over those years. I am still in contact with many of the staff members at my academy as well as ninety-five percent of my graduated class. Most importantly, I went to academy with my parents religion and left with my own relationship with Jesus. An over-used clich that Adventists from previous generations like to use to describe academy is that it was the best years of my life. Well, after experiencing four years of Adventist academy for myself, I know why they say it.