Small School, Big Wonder

By Alexa Smith-Rommel George Washington University

My high school graduating class has 23 people — or about the same number many of you have in a single classroom. Here are five reasons why attending such a small school has been an unforgettable experience.

For the last four years, I have attended a school few have even heard of.

Typically, when it wasn’t worth hoping people would recognize its name, I would describe it as “the school under the bridge that looks like Hogwarts.” Usually, that would give me a few more comprehending nods.

But today as I’m a senior reflecting on what has felt like a lifetime of beautiful memories in a place so small it blows minds, my school’s name is Doane Academy, in Burlington City. I am graduating with 22 other individuals — a number other students my age have not been able to fathom. Sometimes, they laugh or ask questions like “But can you have any friends there? What do you even do?”

While it seems to them my options or opportunities are limited, I wouldn’t change my high school experience for the world. Since second grade, I attended small private schools and the journey they offer is incomparable.

Of course, every single private school brochure claims to offer one-on-one student attention: You aren’t just a number! Develop character in our rigorous curriculum!

While none of this is incorrect, there is a lot more to a small school than the sales pitch:

1. Teachers are friends
Maybe this is one for the brochures, but faculty-student ratios don’t even scratch the surface. The extra academic help can make all the difference, but teachers at a small school always have their doors open. I have teachers I can run to in blind panics, in helpless sobs, or in the most exciting moments of my life.
You can pull up a chair, and they are there to laugh with or cry with. If you’re having a bad day, your AP language teacher can pull you aside and tell you why you should be smiling. And not to be too sentimental — they might also make fun of you whenever they remember that time you nailed yourself in the face in a soccer game.

2. There is always food
Although not every school’s dining hall is staffed by such beautiful human beings as mine, who are known to offer entire meals to hungry students during break, a small student body and friendships with faculty can get you far. Huge baskets of fruit hang around various parts of the school and our Patron Saint lunch director sends food out to sports events — or, well, literally every time someone is hungry. And, yes, you can have a carton of that Hershey’s chocolate milk.

3. There is always a place to explore!
Pre-renovation to my school, my freshman year is filled of fond memories running through the basement connecting building to building in the hopes of escaping inclement weather. Senior classes travel up to the attic from nearly two centuries ago, scribbling their names alongside those from the 1800s.
While public schools are large physically, I believe the feeling of wandering an old and creaky building after dark is one unique to a small school. You can find a window to sit at in a forgotten corner, and know no one will disrupt your reading until your late ride arrives.

4. Your school becomes your second home
Because of the small pool to choose from, you likely are involved in most activities. Quite possibly everything. Three sports, drama, academic competitions, student government, band, choir and everything in between. Because of your commitments, being at school becomes more frequent than being at home.
As horrifying a thought as this sounds, school stops feeling like school. It becomes a magical place where you can feel comfortable and happy, but no one is telling you to fold the laundry. All the responsibilities, without those responsibilities.
Like at Doane, there might even be a school dog who wanders in and out of psychology classes.

5. Every person in school becomes your family
Teachers are second parents - parents who learn more and more about you every day, and support you in every way they can. Yet, the best part is your peers become your siblings. When I graduate, I’m not leaving a class of 500 people I’ve never talked to and will have an easy time forgetting. I will be leaving 22 siblings - siblings who have achieved with me, tested me, cried with me, and have been absurd with me.
There is not one person who hasn’t had an impact on my life, and just for that fact, I would never want to change the past and attend a huge school.

The uniform may have been uncomfortable and I might have been stretched to do too much at once, but these five points were worth it all.