Anyone who has ever spoken to me for longer than about three and a half minutes knows I am a boarding school girl, through and through. The fact that I graduated in 2015 is irrelevant. The quirks and oddities of living in the middle of nowhere on a picturesque campus for three years are irrevocably part of who am I today, for better or worse. And I know I\u2019m not the only one. So for all you former boarding school kids out there, here are 20 signs you went to a Canadian boarding school!<\/p>\n
Gotta start simple. After three years of wearing the same thing five days a week (six if you count the formal uniform on Saturdays and special occasions), <\/span>dressing yourself is<\/span> really, really hard.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Throughout my three years, I had five roommates from the following countries: Hong Kong, the U.S, Nigeria, Germany, and the other coast of Canada. On the one hand, multiculturalism is what makes boarding school such an amazing, immersive experience. But getting on a plane to Hong Kong isn\u2019t exactly a viable option when you want to eat ice cream with your best friend.<\/span><\/p>\n Or, more likely, several. In my case, it was Pamela Anderson (yes, of Baywatch) and Tommy Lee\u2019s (yes, of Motley Crue) two sons, one of whom graduated with me. For the most part, they were just like any of the other students, until a helicopter landed on the soccer field or the paparazzi tried to sneak into your prom.<\/span><\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, boarding schools are pretty strict about underage drinking on campus (duh). But, that never stopped you. Your first shot of vodka probably happened in a bathtub, or behind a bike shed, or in the stairwell of your boarding house. Hiding the alcohol was the best part. You hid your empties in inconspicuous places, like empty cereal boxes, or behind the toilet. Classy, I know.<\/span><\/p>\n At my school, the standard meal was chicken and potatoes. On its own, this isn\u2019t <\/span>really <\/span><\/i>that bad, except for a few things: the chicken being <\/span>boiled <\/span><\/i>(seriously, ew), the potatoes being smashed rather than mashed, and most importantly, the fact that they served it to us <\/span>14 times a week. <\/span><\/i>Now it tastes like chicken and sadness.<\/span><\/p>\n My headmaster used to tell us at least 3 times a week: \u201cIf you are cutting corners on the grass, you are cutting corners <\/span>in life\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>2 years later, walking on the grass of my university quad gives me anxiety.<\/span><\/p>\n If your school was co-ed, like mine, the rules about the opposite sex were very, very strict. I was once yelled at for <\/span>sitting on the same couch <\/span><\/i>as my then-boyfriend. You probably had your first kiss in the forest beside your boarding house, and let\u2019s not even get into everything that came after that.<\/span><\/p>\n Nobody knows why school rivalries are so strong. <\/span>They just are. <\/span><\/i>Just pray you never mret them in the real world.<\/span><\/p>\n As silly as it seems now, things like Head of House and Prefect were really, really important to you. And maybe you\u2019re still just a little bit bitter because you were <\/span>clearly <\/span><\/i>the better choice. At least things are going well at university?<\/span><\/p>\n 7pm-9pm. After three years, \u201cprep-time\u201d gets ingrained into your psyche. You still look over your shoulder when you use your phone while you should be studying.<\/p>\n Sometimes, when I lie awake at night, my brain starts singing \u201cO ZION THAT BRINGEST GOOD TIDINGS\u201d and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.<\/p>\n Having every <\/span>second <\/span><\/i>of your day planned out for you changes your life forever. If you\u2019re like me, you get anxious when you don\u2019t have plans. If you\u2019re not like me, you refuse to ever plan anything, ever again.<\/span><\/p>\n No, I did not get sent to boarding school for being a juvenile delinquent, and no, it is none of your business even if I did.<\/span><\/p>\n Even though no one is inspecting your room anymore, you still make your bed in the morning, out of habit. Bonus: you clean your room at least once a week, just for the sake of it. Cleanliness is next to godliness, right?<\/span><\/p>\n You still call them to see how they\u2019re doing, and miss the days when they brought you treats or took you on outings (I love you Mrs. Carballo).<\/span><\/p>\n You still remember the days of asking an upper year for their wifi password– and even then, it still shut off at <\/span>midnight.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Once, someone gave me a 2.5kg chocolate bar as a secret santa present. And then someone ate the whole thing. I still don\u2019t know who it was, and I am still angry about it.<\/span><\/p>\n In reality, it was mandatory, and you\u2019re not athletic at all, but you\u2019re not going to correct anyone.<\/span><\/p>\n Spirit days were really important.<\/span><\/p>\n Whether you loved it or hated it, the boarding school days will always have a special place in your heart, along with all the best friends and memories you made there.<\/span><\/p>\n Featured Image: weheartit<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Anyone who has ever spoken to me for longer than about three and a half minutes knows I am a boarding school girl, through and through. The fact that I graduated in 2015 is irrelevant. The quirks and oddities of living in the middle of nowhere on a picturesque campus for three years are irrevocably…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22149,"featured_media":116876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9569],"tags":[10326,10325],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-116875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-life","tag-boarding-school","tag-canadian-boarding-school"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n2. Your friends literally live all over the world.<\/h2>\n
3. You went to school with at least one celebrity child.<\/h2>\n
4. Your first drink was a huge deal.<\/h2>\n
5. You\u2019ve developed a strong aversion to certain food.<\/h2>\n
\n<\/h6>\n
6. You\u2019re still weirdly superstitious about school traditions.<\/h2>\n
7. You\u2019re still not used to having the opposite sex in your room.<\/h2>\n
8. You still hate your rival school.<\/h2>\n
9. You\u2019re still bitter about school politics.<\/h2>\n
10. You\u2019re hardwired to do homework at a certain time of day.<\/h2>\n
11. You still remember every single hymn you ever had to sing.<\/h2>\n
12. You either love <\/i>schedules, or absolutely hate them.<\/h2>\n
13. People always ask you why your parents sent you away.<\/h2>\n
14. You make your bed every morning.<\/h2>\n
15. Your adviser was like a second mother\/father to you.<\/h2>\n
\n<\/h6>\n
16. Still being in awe of having internet all hours of the day.<\/h2>\n
17. You\u2019re fiercely protective of your snacks.<\/h2>\n
18. People think you\u2019re athletic, since you played at least 2 sports.<\/h2>\n
19. You still own way too many pieces of clothing in your school colours.<\/h2>\n
20. You still talk about \u201cthe glory days\u201d as if they were yesterday.<\/h2>\n
Do you have any other signs you went to a Canadian Boarding School!? Share in the comments below!<\/h5>\n