Education: The Social Perspective Part I

I remember when spending the night at a friend's house was the ultimate activity a kid could partake in. Something about a sleepover forged friendships like nothing else. With many schools in the Adventist Educational system, rooming in a dormitory is most common for students. The best part was that it was like having a sleepover any night you wanted.

In high school especially, friends are your life. I can't imagine going through high school and having to go home at 3:00 and not see your friends until the next day. Therefore, boarding school was the coolest thing ever. With not needing to go home after classes, friends could really hang out with each other, building social networks all day, every day.

When the time would come to go home for a week, my friend Josh and I had rituals that would last the whole night. The highlights were making a homemade bean dip. The ingredients and flavor are now legendary. We would try to watch a movie at 3 am and not fall asleep. We would climb out the window and pee somewhere on campus. It's weird, but those nights have fueled more conversations and good memories than I can count.

During senior class trips, I spent a lot of time with a friend known as Billy Goat.We had known each other for a while, but never really hung out that much. During the week we spent in California, when some of your favorite might not be around, I found that it is less stressful to just hang out with somebody else. Billy Goat and I were not great friends, but we had a blast.

Of course, not every friendship works out perfect. Some of my best friends before I went to boarding school slipped away and we never reconnected. But being surrounded by so many all the time, I feel that my social skills were boosted and I learned to work through levels of friendship and turmoil that would not likely happen elsewhere.