Many people believe that paying for your high school education is pointless. Why pay all this money when you can go to a public high school for free? I can tell you why: because there is nothing more beneficial than having classrooms with less than 20 kids, knowing the names of every single classmate and almost every school mate (and some middle schoolers too), having the opportunity to play more than one sport (and excel at them too) and having one-on-one support from my teachers and administrators that have encouraged me towards success. This is not to say that people who have gone to public schools cannot succeed. That is absolutely not true, however what I am saying is that I believe receiving a private education was beneficial and resulted in merit scholarships, leadership opportunities and a self-driven attitude to succeed that has followed me well into college.
My teachers in school were able to write wonderful letters of recommendation for me as they had only 50 students to focus on, rather than 500. This allowed me to create lasting and personal relationships with teachers that wanted to see me succeed.
The academic rigor pushed me to work hard on my school work and taught me how to manage my time. These skills have helped me far beyond my high school classrooms. As a student that graduated from a school that prided itself on prepping students for college, I felt fully prepared for the difficult classes and challenging topics that many of my college courses threw at me.
Some people saw some of our rules as stupid and strict, but honestly I found that many of the rules at my school forced me to be disciplined and made me focus on what mattered. No, we couldn't go off campus for lunch or leave whenever we felt like it, but this did eliminate the amount of students skipping classes or being late from lunch. Did this aggravate me sometimes when all I wanted was Taco Bell for lunch? Absolutely. But this a) saved me loads of money and b) forced me to attend ALL of my classes everyday. We also had a dress code at school which stated we couldn't wear jeans or yoga pants or anything normal really, which may not have necessarily promoted my education per say, but it didn't take anything away from it that's for sure. Instead of wasting time picking out the cutest outfit or wondering what sandals to wear I picked out my favorite pair of black-school-appropriate pants and a sweatshirt or polo shirt and called it a day. I didn't stress about looking as cute as the other girls, because well, none of us really cared.
At the end of the day, I am attending another private institution and I would not be doing so if it weren't for the first education that really prepared me for what was ahead. My high school encouraged me to work hard so that I was able to receive academic scholarships and leadership opportunities that have made this greater education experience possible. Not everyone has the chance to live out their futures like I am doing and for that I feel truly lucky that my parents made the sacrifices that they did to set me up for ultimate success.
