Unraveling Our Motto: The Lessons of Dorm Life

Kayla Ntoh PhotoKayla Ntoh, Junior Boarder from Lower Macungie, Pennsylvania

Living in a dorm at boarding school is an experience that I would never want taken away from me. Although it has its ups and downs, which is to be expected when living in a school of 200 girls, it can also be amazing! The girls that I live with have, over time, become my closest friends and confidantes.

Dorm life can be a hard adjustment after living at home with your parents for years because you are dependent on everything that your parents do for you and take advantage of seeing your parents everyday without fail. I think that the hardest adjustment for me was having to do my own laundry (I think that speaks for most of the girls here). But honestly what made the adjustment not as difficult was that there are other girls here who had gone through exactly what I was going through, whether it be laundry or just plain homesickness. I was so glad that my student proctor on my corridor was always available anytime that I needed her.

Now for roommates, which I think was my scariest thought about living in the dorm. If I am being completely honest, it can be nerve wracking having to live with another girl who you most likely have never met before, but know that everything will turn out great! The best piece of advice that I can give is to try to find something that you have in common with your new roommate and build your friendship from there. Some roommates hit it off very quickly and others have to put some effort in to build those bonds. My roommate now, Lizzie, and I get along perfectly and I think once you find THAT person, dorm life moves beyond being great and it becomes the best thing ever! Your parents will have to drag you home every break!

 

Hello! My name is Samantha Mallette, and I am one of the Assistant Directors of Admission at Westover School as well as a graduate of the Class of 2009. As a part of our blog initiative this year, I have asked our Westover Community to reflect on the school’s motto of “To Think, To Do, To Be.” I hope you enjoyed our nineteenth student blog under the series “Unraveling Our Motto.” It was a reflection on “To Do and To Be.”

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