Every time someone in college asks me about my high school experience, they tend to look at me like I have 7 heads after hearing my response. Yes, I went to an all girls high school with a graduating class of 62 girls and yes, I absolutely loved it. All girls school's are rare yet magical places where strangers become family and you can always get away with singing random renditions of any high school musical song ever (or making up your own raps to Justin Bieber songs). It's a place where bonds are formed and Channing Tatum is always a welcome topic of discussion. It's a place where I found not only my sisters, but myself as well. These are 8 things that I miss everyday since coming to college and rejoining a co-ed environment where it probably isn't normal to nap in public.
1. Uniforms
I didn't realize how incredible my uniform was until I got to college and had to put together an outfit in the dark at 7:47 a.m. There's nothing better than a kilt and non-uniform sweatshirt (no one wore their polos anyway). Although, I definitely do not miss wearing tights in the winter and getting yelled at whenever I had a run/gaping hole in my tights.
2. Being Small Yet Mighty
My all girls school was insanely small. So small that I could accurately name every girl in my grade off the back of my hand (along with their middle name, cousins names, and their social security number). Though small, we powered through pep rallies and state championships, cheering louder than your public high school would ever cheer.
3. Spirit
All girls schools are known for taking everything to the next level. For halloween we didn't just dress up, we had themes per grade and decorated the hallways to match. Pep Rally's almost always involved bringing in scooters, shopping carts, and stop signs to show our allegiance to our own grade. Songs were not sung in mass, they were screamed. And state championships involved school wide themes and professional posters (and lots of cake).
4. The Teachers
You have to be a special type of person to deal with a school full of teenage girls. The teachers pushed us every day but also let us get away with lying on the floor, needing dance breaks between bible verses, bringing blankets to class, and asking teachers about their personal lives incessantly (we usually knew every detail for a teacher's wedding or how their blind date last Saturday went). Teachers often became our friends and we would take snapchats with them, sit in their classrooms during free periods, and tell them about whatever drama was occurring that week.
5. The Traditions
From Catholic School's Week to senior assassins, an all girls school wouldn't be complete without some weird traditions. Ours involved dressing up like ranch dressing on salad dressing day (I swear this is a thing), making up skits to make fun of our favorite teachers, and pie-ing teachers in the face to raise money for homecoming.
6. The Atmosphere
Our all girls school was the daycare I never knew I needed. We got away with arguably too much, including sneak-ordering pizza to school, playing pranks on teachers (i.e. hiding in the closets/under desks and scaring our teachers whenever they walked in the room), walking around with no shoes, sleeping in public places, and blaring throwback songs between every class. We were almost always out of uniform and found running around the school doing anything but school work.
7. Freedom
At an all girls school, you are pushed to be anything you want to be. You can be the class president, the lead in a play, or the star of the basketball team. You can start a fundraiser or you can take a class you never thought you'd wanna take. I was pushed by my teachers to try things I had no idea I would succeed in, like AP Photography, Creative Writing, or Art History, and I can't thank them enough for shaping me into the well-rounded person I am today.
8. The Sisterhood
When I came to my all girls school freshman year I had no idea the impact the 61 girls I met would have on me. They soon became my friends and then they became my sisters. They become the people you can count on for late night ice cream runs, to take a nap at any time of the day with, or to watch your favorite movie for the 17th time with. You'll meet your best friends at the freshman sleepover, at that random lunch table you sat at freshman year, or in French class.They are your biggest support system and will always be there for you at any time (and will make a better prom date than any boy ever will). I miss my 61 sisters every day and I can't thank my all girls school enough for bringing them to me.