I am very proud to have attended Catholic school my whole life, and even more so for going to an all-girl Catholic high school. When I went to college, very few of my friends went to private school and they all had the same idea of private schools: rich, stuck up kids who are spoiled. I had comments made to me that because I went to private school, you could tell I was behind socially when it came to interacting with boys. I disagree, as do most people, because I easily get along and make friendships with everybody. So here are my reasons why.
1. You always had an easy A: religion class.
Although everyone says we should be masters of Catholicism by now, we're not. I have been in religion classes since I was five years old, but the things I know about the Church from school, anyone could know. Religion classes were pretty much us voicing our opinions on topic, and getting good grades just for trying. In grade school, religion class was repetitive every year and I don't remember much change. In high school, though, we didn't just learn about Catholicism. In fact, I took a class called " World Religions". Senior year, I also took "Relationships" which focused on how we interact with other people, and not just a relationship as in having a boyfriend. We watched really cool movies, like the French film The Intouchables. Which I still watch. Junior year I took Morality, which you learn about your decisions and decide how it affects you. We watched Shawshank Redemption that year.
2. We didn't need to spend hundreds of dollars on a wardrobe.
Yes, I understand we pay thousands of dollars for tuition, so it really doesn't even out. But, waking up five minutes before you have to leave and just putting on a shirt, skirt, and throwing your hair up was one of the best things to do. We loved out of uniform days and fundraisers where we had to raise money in order to get to wear sweatpants to school, but it was still a blessing. I still have one skirt from grade school, and one skirt from high school. I wore that skirt through a lot of awful days, and good days. And sometimes it's just fun to remember how ugly it was, but uniforms were great.
3. Religious holidays.
I don't even think I could tell you which days we got off for, but any day that was a serious Holy Day of Obligation, we were off for because we were supposed to go to Church. We were off more than just for Easter and Christmas, and it was always something to enjoy. Or, even if we weren't off school, we would have mass which shortened class schedules. During Lent, the cafeteria menu would change and they would not serve meat on Friday's. But we survived, since that's what we're supposed to do. But being able to celebrate our religion, talk about it, and pray together was always incredible.
4. Retreats.
This was by far my favorite part of attending private school. Because our religion was part of our academics, we would go on retreats. They weren't always completely religiously based, but it was fun to experience. It brought our classes together and made sure we had all bonded before graduating senior year. Because of it, I am able to say I talked to everyone in my grade at some point, and it made me want to meet and get to know everyone. Retreats broke down barriers and helped everyone get along. Two girls who you would never think to be friends, became friends because of these retreats. And it happened more than once.
5. Weird fundraisers.
Since private school means tuition and tuition means financial aid, we often had fundraisers to raise money for scholarships. My school had raffle, and we would raise thousands of dollars to help other girls come to our high school. They also had random fundraisers from students and graduates to sponsor funds for girls who really needed help, but didn't want to publicly ask for it. Because we have to pay for school, a lot of other people from public schools make assumptions that we're rich and all. We're not. I saw a lot of girls struggle and families make sacrifices to send their children to private school, but they had decided there was better opportunities that made it worth it.
6. The same teachers.
A lot of teachers I had in high school, my mom had when she went there. I know it goes for public schools too, but I feel like more teachers stay with private schools or even go back and teach at the schools they went to. I think my high school had more alumnae working there than not. Because we aren't funded entirely by the government, we also had fewer teachers who taught more than just one subject. I had teachers repeatedly, but I also loved those teachers because of it.
7. We were close.
Private schools tend to be smaller, and I realized a lot of my friends I met in college graduated from class sizes that were as big as my school. Because we're smaller, you tend to know everyone. I knew most of everyone in all the grades, and even if I didn't have a teacher, they knew who I was. I loved it. It was my own cozy atmosphere, and was my second home. Even in grade school, it was the same way. You knew everyone.
I will never know what going to public school was like, but private school is the best thing that could've happened to me in this life. The academics and class offerings may be different than other schools, but the person that I am today was because of going to Catholic school my whole life. I understand it's not for everyone, but for me and many others, it was amazing.
