My family lives in Guilford, but after Choate accepted me, I requested to live on campus. Initially, I was rejected because of a lack of available beds. And so my first year here, as a third-former, I was a day student, commuting over an hour every day. Over the summer after my freshman year, however, the School notified me that a bed had opened up. I claimed it immediately.
After I became a boarder, everything changed. My new room is a mess. And l no longer have the delicious home-cooked meals that I love. But I do my own laundry, and I set my own alarm.
I also had to deal with all the new rules in the dorm: study hours, trash duty, checking in. At home, I never needed to check in or sign out at specific times, so it was perhaps inevitable that my first week living at Choate would consist of numerous conversations with my house advisor about why I had forgotten to sign out or check in.
Obviously, I saw my parents a lot less. Every now and then, homesickness would wash over me. Adjusting to my new life, in all honesty, was difficult.
Eventually, I got used to the rules. Though they seemed imposing at first, I’m used to them now. They aren’t that bad. In many ways, living as a boarder has helped me grow into an independent and involved Choate student. Without having to commute every day, I’ve joined more clubs and done more activities. I’ve even begun writing for The Choate News.
Boarding also opened the door to great friendships. Of course, as a day student, I had my friends, but I can’t deny that boarding made meeting new people much easier. I wouldn’t have been able to meet all of the sophomores, juniors, and prefects in my dorm if we hadn’t been crammed into a single building every day. I also wouldn’t have connected with the house advisers whom I now see daily.
Boarding isn’t necessarily better than being a day student. But, from my view, it was trickier being a day student — so much goes on when you don’t live at Choate.
Becoming a boarder has changed everything. Yes — I have been homesick, I am usually hungry at night, and the rules can get annoying. But I can’t deny that it’s been a change for the better.
