When I was ten years old, I made one of the most influential decisions of my life: I decided to attend an all-girl college prep school for the next seven years. I probably thought I knew what I was getting myself into, but in truth I never could have predicted how significant those years would be. Hell, seven years later, at my graduation, I didn’t fully realize it.

My classmates and I were acutely aware of how unique our middle and high school experience had been as a result of our school. We were open about our fears of college: not only wondering where we would end up, but fretting about going to a new school for the first time in seven years, not wearing a uniform 5 days out of the week, and, of course, having classes and being friends with * gasp * boys. Because our school was dedicated to preparing us for college, our expectations leaving high school were high. How prepared were we for the “real world," after seven years in the all-girl school bubble?

Now, almost a semester into my first year of college, I’m starting to realize the true value of an all-girl school. In high school, I was highly familiar with every Buzzfeed-esque list “23 signs you went to an all-girl school” or “15 truths everyone who went to an all-girl school knows” and the like. And those were all true. There was always food-- it appeared practically out of nowhere. Our periods synced up, in groups if not class-wide. It was 100 percent acceptable to not put much effort into appearances. We grew to appreciate the ease of uniforms. There were no boundaries; in-depth conversations about periods were as common as talk about the weather. There were days when we all got on each other’s nerves, but we formed incredibly close and unique bonds. My friends and I shared these lists and embraced their accuracy, and I admittedly thought that they basically summed up the girl school experience.

But there were some things those kinds of lists left off, things I didn’t truly realize or appreciate until my return to a co-ed classroom. So, in the interest of ~real talk~ I’ve compiled my own little Buzzfeed-esque list:

5 signs you went to an all-girl school.

1. Heated class discussions and opinionated individuals were plentiful.

At my school, passion for education and any subject material was encouraged. In high school, there were no guys to dominate the conversation so I didn’t realize until college that when controversial or philosophical conversations come up, male classmates are typically the ones to dominate them. I felt disoriented for the first two weeks of class hearing guys speak so much, not used to the balance of voices being shifted in their favor.

2. Feminism and women’s studies were on the syllabus.

There may not have been a dedicated class, but these topics made their way into curriculum anyways. In sixth grade, we learned about Shirley Chisholm (the first woman to run for President, 36 years before Hillary did it the first time around). In my junior year, we learned about women’s suffrage and Alice Paul and the National Women’s Party. We discussed intersectionality, the progress of women’s rights, media representation, and the invention of birth control. These were things that should be discussed in all classrooms, but these topics were more approachable within an all-female group.

3. Sex Ed was more comprehensive than in co-ed schools

This one admittedly may be a bit specific to my own school, where we were lucky enough to be taught sex ed through Planned Parenthood’s outreach program—twice. (Ask me again why I stand with Planned Parenthood.) Regardless, our conversations were frank and detailed. And they weren’t just about sex and STIs. We learned about menstruation, sexuality, and healthy relationships. Plenty of my classmates never dated in high school, but we were taught to be healthy and responsible and in control anyways.

4. Girls you barely spoke to saw, and comforted, you at your worst. And it went both ways.

There was no shame in crying when you had a bad day, and everyone knew what to do when they heard crying in the next stall over. Despite the (somewhat true) notion that gossip spreads quickly in an all-girl school, we knew which secrets to keep. It was understood that the school functioned like an emotional support network and that everyone had their struggles. So the fact that so-and-so had a breakdown between classes the other morning wasn’t something everyone needed to know.

5. There’s (still) a certain love-hate relationship with your school you can’t quite explain.

We've all gotten the question “Do you wish you went to a co-ed school?” Well, not really. There were times when we all wished we were better versed in talking to boys. There were days where seven years of constant time together felt like too much. There were days when going to a “normal” school seemed a lot easier and like the smarter choice. But as I’ve already stated, going to an all-girl school gave me too much for me to be willing to trade it for anything else.

Having moved on from my all-girl school, I see now that my fears about being unprepared for the real world were unnecessary. Because while we may not have talked to boys every day, as we have to in college, we were shaped into strong people who are able to stand on their own. We are educated, prepared, and confident young women, in the classroom and in life.

Talk about #goals.