Growing up, I attended Catholic school for most of my life. It wasn't until high school that my mom decided it was time to send me to public school. While I was glad there were no more ugly uniforms (try wearing a grey skirt and forest green vest with knee high socks every day for 11 years) or limits to how you are able to present yourself, I knew there were going to be things I had to get used to. All my friends would talk about their experiences growing up, and more often than not, I couldn't relate, while there were things I went through that public school kids couldn't imagine in their wildest dreams. Does this sound like you? How many of these do you agree with?
1. "We stopped taking the Terra Nova in third grade!"
What?! I took those stupid tests until seventh grade. That was hell week for anyone who really thought they mattered. (Hint: they don't!)
2. Being used to abstaining from eating meat every Friday during Lent
Personally, this was the worst. You get used to it fast, though. This was something my friends found hilarious, and they found it even MORE hilarious to eat their turkey sandwiches RIGHT in my face. Every. Single. Friday.
3. The 3 day field trips to Washington D.C. and Boston you never got to experience
We were lucky our school approved a trip into New York City to see a play. The thought of a three day trip would have been enough to put most parents into a worry-induced coma.
4. Going to church was a regular school activity
First Friday? Church. Any holiday on the Liturgical Calendar? Church. And yes, it was a normal occurrence for the principal to cancel classes for the day and hold a full day retreat complete with 4 hours of silent prayer and confession with the priests. Too bad they didn't warn us ahead of time, I would have felt myself coming down with a fever.
5. Graduating with 30-40 other people instead of 100
Being stuck with the same group of people every single year with only slight variations was a bit much. Everyone really knew everyone, sometimes a bit too much. If one person in a small private school knows something, it doesn't take long for everyone to know. Ugh.
6. Wearing the same outfit every single day![]()
Uniforms: aka the bane of my existence. Some schools have some decent uniforms. My school uniform, however, consisted of grey knee socks, a wooly, itchy, ugly grey skirt skirt, a forest green vest, and a plaid cross tie. That cross tie was the worst. It all was.
7. Not having Sex Ed
Ok, sure it can be argued that not many schools get a good sex ed class. However, they pulled the plug on our sex ed class after the administration made the executive decision that a bunch of sixth graders could't handle it. Well, they weren't wrong. Also, they called it "Family Life" for us. Yeah. I'm serious.
8. Not having the non-Catholic holidays off that everyone else does
Sigh... there's so many days I didn't get off until I started going to public school in 9th grade. Better late than never.
9. "Aren't the nuns at your school really mean?"
Honestly, my school didn't even have nuns that taught there. However, nuns that do teach are not how they're portrayed in movies. Odds are, you aren't going to find a nun that slaps kids with rulers. There's some laws against that now.
10. Being forced to write everything in cursive, and not being able to break the habit
I'm a freshman in college and I still write in cursive. Needless to say, no one is usually able to read my handwriting.
11. Waiting for the world to end when your shirt wasn't tucked into your skirt
Honestly, teachers acted as if the world was gonna explode, but no, by all means, stop the math lesson you're teaching to harass the poor girl who forgot to tuck in her shirt!
