Yes, I have had the unique experience of having attended four different high schools in four years. One in China, three in New York. Three private, one public. One with an Asian majority, two with a white majority, and one with an African-American/Hispanic majority. And I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
The first school was an international school in Shanghai. I had attended it since middle school, and expected to stay until high school graduation. But during my freshman year, I began to doubt whether it was the right fit. It was a fairly large school, roughly about 200 kids per grade. The atmosphere was highly competitive. The students were children of typically very financially well-off families. Many had parents who came from lower backgrounds but pushed their way to the top. Now the children were expected to stay at the top. I felt constrained in that school, trapped, never able to stand out or be good enough. There was no room for exploration; it seemed you had to know your path already. So I left.
The next school was a transitional school. A teeny tiny building, that seemed to have more space going up than to the side. Typical of midtown Manhattan. The student body was a grand total of 80 kids. It seemed that many of the kids were children of UN families, always on the move. My classmates had thick accents from all over the world--France, Russia, Germany, Japan, Brazil. The classrooms were like closets, if I spread out my arms, I could touch both walls. It was the first time I was able to walk to school. This was quite exciting for me, as I’ve always lived an hour or more away from my schools. So I happily danced up the streets of Manhattan that spring and summer, wondering where I would end up next. Even though I only stayed there a few months, my world view had already begun to widen dramatically.
During my time in the UN school, I applied to regular private schools, and was accepted to begin my junior year in one located in Park Slope, Brooklyn. This one was in between the size of the Shanghai one and the midtown one, perhaps about a hundred or so kids per grade. I found it wonderful. The campus was located in a picturesque area, with Prospect Park around the corner and the streets lined with beautiful brownstones. Every day at break time you could go to the cafeteria and there would be freshly baked muffins waiting. The classes were unique. I was required to take a combined English and US History class, taught by two teachers, where we went deeply in depth not only about the country, but specifically about New York itself. We started from when the Dutch first founded it as New Amsterdam, and even had to take on theatrical roles when it came to the Colonial-British split. The kids were mostly all born and raised in the city, and I began to see New York from a local point of view. This school was the first (and last) time I ever joined a team sport in high school, cross country, and I remember countless hour-long bus rides (in a real yellow American school bus! Wow!) to Van Cortlandt Park up in the Bronx, and jogging miles of hilly forest ground. But alas, my time here only lasted a semester, because although the students and the school environment were great, the administration was not. Unfortunately there are those out there who have great prejudice against mental illness, and do not tolerate those who suffer from it. So I was forced to leave.
To be suddenly left without a school mid-junior year is a tough situation, and so I had no choice but to turn to the Department of Education. They rudely handed me this huge book listing all the public schools in New York City, but snapped at me that only four were available at the time. I went down the list dejectedly. Eventually, on a whim, I chose one in Chelsea, Manhattan. It was a completely new school, that year would be its first graduating class. I shrugged and hoped for the best.
It turned out to be the school I was able to thrive most in. At first, I was in shock, for many reasons. First, as it was Manhattan, it was in an eight storey building, but my school was only the basement and the first floors. The other floors were inhabited by other schools, so during the grueling trek up to the eighth floor for gym, you would pass random strangers from a different school. Weird. Second, the classes were super easy. As it was a new school, they had yet to implement an AP/IB program, and the math class I was placed into I had already passed in the ninth grade. I was happy that I would not have to struggle with calculus or something horrible like that as my classmates back in Shanghai were no doubt doing. Instead, this school gave me a lot of individual freedom. It wasn’t tremendously small, perhaps eighty or so kids per grade, but it felt like if you wanted to be heard, all you had to do was ask. You never had to fight your way for attention. The teachers amazed me. They were better than any private school teacher I ever had. They were humble, choosing to do their work not for money or status, but to actually try and improve the lives of their students. These teachers saw that I wanted to learn, to live up to what I could do, and helped me do it. Against all odds, my senior year, I joined the school play. People who know me know exactly how much I fear the spotlight, but for some reason, in this little close-knit community, I wasn’t afraid. I was given the opportunity to shine, and I’ve never felt it before. Our last semester, we had no classes. Our time was dedicated to a project of our own choosing. I chose to write a short book about my grandmother’s experiences as a Japanese nurse in WWII, to pursue my passion for writing.
Each of these schools taught me so much about myself and the world. In some places, you’re going to feel trapped and under appreciated. In others, you’re going to be judged and criticized. So leave them, find someplace else. Find somewhere that may be less renowned, more off the grid, but more humble and true. Find someplace that suits your character and challenges you to the right amount. Find someplace that will allow you to not be afraid, because I guarantee that you will be much happier for it.
