During my junior and senior year, instead of going to my local public high school I went to a small boarding school in East Haddam, Connecticut. At first I was not to excited about leaving all of my friends and other activities I was involved with here in Leominster, Massachusetts. At first when I heard of this idea I thought that it was a bad idea and something that I did not want to pursue. Eventually after I toured two schools. I went home and decided that I would give Franklin Academy a try. When I first arrived, I was a little nervous because I was at school in a different state and I did not know anyone. On campus the staff on my floor were very helpful and welcoming. Through the first week of school it was a lot different than I would of imagined. The classes were smaller and there were classes that were not really taught in public school. Also, I learned we did not have a competitive sports program and had something that was almost like intramural sports.

Though sometimes it was like a normal high school where we would have class with friends and have homework assigned it was still different. On certain days we would not have class and we would just have seminars with our team (kind of like grade levels but combined more than one grade). Also we had a staff of teachers that were assigned to our team as well as a Residential Dean, Counselor and Learning Specialist. During my first year as a junior at Franklin Academy, I met with my counselor to see how I am fitting in. While I was at Franklin Academy I made a couple of first. One of them was running my first 5K ever and the second one was getting an internship at a local YMCA and help teach swim lessons. Towards the end of my junior year we had to do final exams as well as do our closing ceremony where we would say goodbye to the seniors and have a send off for them. Then the next few days would be graduation rehearsal and before you knew it, it was already graduation.

Towards the end of my junior year I was accepted into the Franklin Learning Institute for seniors and post grads. During that time I would be living in satellite dorms on campus but not in the main dorm. One accomplishment that I am really proud of is becoming a Residential Assistant or RA for short. One of the main jobs I had was to be assigned to a male floor either on the second or third floor and assist the faculty on duty for the night. That would include things such as making sure everyone is present at the hall meeting, putting away screens, helping with homework and checking in for the night. One of the best experiences I had in my senior year was going on our Capstone project to Washington DC where we did community service work and got to hangout with friends at night. Little did I realize was that in two weeks I would be a high school graduate and get my diploma. On June 1st, 2013 I walked up to our Residential Director and shook her hand as she gave me my high school diploma. I was really proud of this and I couldn't help to thank all of the faculty who helped me along the way.

I am really glad I listened to what my parents had to say and decided to go to boarding school.