I went to a small high school, like 120-people-in-my-graduating-class small. It definitely had some good and some bad, and if you also went to a small high school, I’m sure you’ll relate to the things that I went through.
1. If something happens, everyone knows about it
Who hooked up with whom at the party? Yeah, heard about that an hour after it happened. You failed a test? Sorry, saw on Twitter last period. Facebook fight or, God forbid, real fight? It was on half the class’ Snapchat story half an hour ago. No matter what you do, someone will know about it.
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2. Never getting to be invisible
I like to stand out, but even I sometimes wish I could just blend in. Whether it be a bad hair day, or a sick day, or just a day where you don’t want to talk to anyone, there are some times when you just want to be another face in the crowd so you don’t have to deal with anyone. You do not get this luxury at a small school. If your hair looks bad or your jeans have a hole in them, you feel like everyone is staring at you. If you’re in a bad mood, someone will still say hi to you in the hallway and you still have to smile and wave back, because they will notice if you don’t. Standing out can be a good thing, but never getting the protection of a crowd sometimes really sucks.
3. Knowing every single thing about every single person in the town
You’ve gone to school with most of these people since you were eight years old (or younger), so you know everything. You could tell me the name of someone in my grade, and I could probably tell you what they want to study, what side of town they live on, if they have any siblings, and where they’re going to college.
4. New kids are a big deal
Most new kid stories are that they felt forgotten and lost in such a big, scary school. Not in small schools! Every couple years when there was a new kid, everyone would want to talk to them, because we had been stuck talking to the same people for the last 12 years of our lives!
5. It’s hard to make new friends
Your friend pool is so small that having more than 5 close friends is a rarity for most people. Once you weed out the mean people, the annoying people, the people you don’t really click with, and the people who have no interest in you, you’re down to a low number of potential best friends.
6. On that note ... the dating pool is even smaller!
Most people’s boyfriends come from out of town, because who wants to date the kid who knew you when you had braces or the girl who saw you pee your pants in 1st grade? Better to find someone who can know you for the person you are now and not the acne-covered tween you were then!
7. Teachers are weirdly close to their students
Not in a bad way, but I know a lot of people at my school who are really close to one teacher or another. Whether it's the advisor to a club or the teacher of your favorite subject, odds are that every student in a small school has a teacher that they can go to for anything.
8. It forced you to make friends out of school
Because your school was so small, you knew that going out of town was your only hope to make more than two friends! This forced you to get out of your comfort zone and find new people to hang out with, who might have later turned into your best friends.
