Whether you loved your private highschool years, or hated them, the lessons they taught us are often learned later on in life.
1. Dress codes really made things less complicated
Now I'm not saying that I was a fan of the khaki pants and polo shirts, cause God knows I tried to get around wearing them as much as possible in my high school days, but damn did it save me time in the morning. I realized that because I went to a Catholic school that my style is seriously damaged, I have to get advice on what to wear, and most of it is still pretty conservative. Damn you catholic school for making me cringe at the prospect of wearing anything "too revealing."
2. People have hair colors that are not the standard
WOW, younger me was astonished when I looked around campus that first year of college to see hair that was Purple, Blue, Pink, Green. Don’t get me wrong, the majority of my friends in High School were from a public school, so I'm no stranger to colored hair, but actually having the freedom to finally change hair colors myself without being expelled was a foreign concept to me. Now actually having the ability to dye my hair to my hearts content is all to exciting.
3. The cliques still exist, they just have new names now
Going to a private school, you learn one very important lesson, that Cliques were not just a very popular book series, but rather a real and everyday life encounter. When your graduating class is comprised of less than 100 students for 12 years, people begin to pick and chose who will be around them. Picture Mean Girls on steroids and you will find my Alma Mater. You had the classic divisions, we even had our own versions of the plastics (with the Regina George changing every couple weeks). And trust me, just like the movie, things got ugly fast. In college, while the campus is bigger and you think about Cliques less, they are still there. They are just called Sororities and Fraternities now. While getting into these exclusive groups become easier in college, it still holds the same kind of model as it did in high school, frats and sororities at the top, the rest fills into the food chain.
4. You still have the prayers mostly memorized
The wonderful matter of testing your knowledge and ability to recite a prayer on command. How I loathed those tests. I always knew the prayers, but test anxiety would get the best of me, and soon I'd be reciting a completely different prayer to a teacher who is less than pleased. Now whenever I still do go to service (once in a very blue moon,) I still am able to jump in on a majority of the hymnals and prayers.
5. Catholic schools week was the craziest part of your life that you miss unexplainably.
The week you got to dress up crazy everyday, have snacks, play games, and have a pep rally that would blow the socks of your rival high school. Whether it be twin day, injury day, or Rockstar day, you were ready to bring you’re "A" game with the costume you had put together. ( after all this was better than the polo khaki combo) You miss the awesome spirit stick competitions and being able to actually feel some pride for your school.
Catholic school was a wild ride. We all had to stick together through all the school masses, prayer services and assemblies. Catholic school has undoubtedly left it's mark on all of us, so here's to the private school kiddos! (I sincerely hope none you have to wear the khaki & polo combo again.)
