From kindergarten through 10th grade I attended public school.

In my sophomore year I had about 350 kids in my class. I don’t know what made me decide to switch schools. I guess I was just sick of  not being challenged, the drama, and constant swearing. My parents and I visited Trinity Christian School in May at the end of my junior year. I couldn’t believe how small it was. (I ended up graduating with 25 other kids.)

In June I took a math, English, and verbal test to see if I qualified to go to the school. I was nervous but I passed. I was afraid that I would miss my boyfriend at the time who also went to Plum. It turns out he broke up with me in July so I was a free woman when I started at TCS 😉

Private school appropriate clothing.

At first I absolutely hated it. I hated that I didn’t know anyone. Everyone already had their group of friends. The classes were hard. The lunches were gross. The school didn’t have air conditioning or heat. I told my parents I wanted to go back to Plum STAT!

They said no. I stuck through the first few months and made friends but my grades still sucked. It wasn’t a great idea to switch to a college prep school my junior year, i’ll admit that!

What else stunk:

1. Wearing a collared shirt every day. (Also, no ripped jeans, flip flops, layering, or plaid pants.)

2. I missed my friends so much. Trinity didn’t have a homecoming and that was a big thing at Plum.

3. There were about 10 boys in my graduating class. Slim pickin! But I found Jim that year anyways 😉 [btw, we met at church and he graduated before me]. But at the same time this was good because I could focus on school work.

4. No crazy dancing at dances. The mantra when dancing with a boy was “Leave room for Jesus.”

5. The competitiveness. You have no idea. Everyone wanted the best grade, to be valedictorian, and to be better than you. In a way this was also good because it pushed me to achieve more.

6. The insane amounts of hw/projects/tests. The headmaster had to make a rule that we could only have 3 tests a day. The teachers moved so fast through chapters that we had a test a week, at least.

7. Everyone knows your business and everything about you.

What I loved about private school:

1. Attention from teachers and hands on labs. My senior year Spanish class had 4 people in it including me. 

2. Goofing off and not being judged by my classmates because we were all crazy.

3. Learning about God everyday and being with people who LOVE God just as much as me.

4. Private school = trust. 1 day each month we were allowed to go out to lunch. LEGIT!

5. The friendships that I made (and still have) are amazing.

All in all I wouldn’t trade my experience for the world and I am so glad I went to Trinity for the last two years of my schooling! I suppose I got the best of both worlds from not being in a ‘bubble’ from k-10 and then experiencing a tough but loving school for my junior and senior year. I believe that it really prepared me for college and my adult life.

Did you go to public or private school? What did you like/dislike?