<p>here is my situation. I'm currently a 9th grader at a small catholic school (300 students). I played varsity football and started jv and also started varsity tennis. I have Made high honors every semester and the teachers all like me. My best friend is moving out of state. I have lots of friends but I don't feel I will be friends with them after highschool and that they will not really be my friends if I don't play football. I want to be a doctor someday and go to an ivy league school but I don't feel
Like I could do that at this school. Everything is focused on football and it's easy to get sucked up into it. Also I received a concussion and my parents are strongly pushing me to not playing football anymore. I have an older sister who attends this school and is a junior.</p>
<p>Recently(past 2 months) we looked into a prep school that is 2 hours away. My family is friends with a family who sends their kids there. It is a 5 day boarding school that has excellent academics and athletics. I applied and was accepted as a late applicant. I am going in as a repeat freshman and will be in the same grade as the boy that I know(he goes to a public school in my area).</p>
<p>I enrolled in the school and am excited at this opportunity. I am planning on playing soccer and lacrosse at the school. I'm especially excited for lacrosse because it is a fast paced contact sport but with less contact then football. My parents are very supportive. However my dad is on the board at my current school. I'm going to tell people about my going to a prep school in the summer so to complicate things less.</p>
<p>I need some advice as to how I should tell my friends and handle this situation. I will be home a lot on weekends because it is a 5 day boarding school. I want to still stay friends with my current classmates atleast until highschool is done. Thanks.</p>
<p>Because you’ll be home on weekends, it will be a lot easier for your friends to take. I’m going to boarding school next year as well, and had to deal with two different situations. I have plenty of good friends here that I see no more than once a month, so it won’t be a huge change. It was easier to tell these friends. But, I absolutely dreaded telling my school friends since I was used to seeing them everyday. The way I did it was I brought it up casually. Upon telling a friend that I wasn’t going to be in town, I decided that I would tell her right then, that I was going on a school visit. This took a lot of pressure off me since I was bringing it up in relation to what was going on at the time. I was worried that it would be extremely awkward, but she took it fine and from there, I felt comfortable spreading the news to everyone else. My advice, tell one of your closest friends first and telling the rest of your friends will become much easier.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t think you should overanalyze the situation too much. Because that’s what I did. Try to think of it in the simplest terms, and the drama of the whole situation is very minimal. If you believe this yourself, the people around you won’t get worked up about it either. I can’t say for sure if these friendships you have now will change because I’m going through the exact same thing. But I do think if you present this school change as just that, nothing more than a location switch, people will feel that they aren’t really losing you.</p>
<p>Also do you think I should still wait till summer? And football has already started. There
Is practice Monday Tuesday and Wednesday next week. I don’t think it would be a big deal of I went but when do I draw the line? In the summer?</p>
<p>I just reread your post, and of course you can be a doctor and get into an ivy from any school! It all depends on the individual, no high school can change that. Please don’t let that be the reason you want to go to boarding school. It won’t improve your chances necessarily, just provide you with more opportunity.</p>
<p>Are you asking if I think you should wait to tell your friends until the summer? I don’t think you should. It’s best to tell them as soon as possible. </p>
<p>And what do you mean about drawing the line with football practice?</p>
<p>That’s not one of the main reasons. There are many reasons to going. It’s a
Great school with great opportunities and I will meet a lot of like minded people there. And telling my friends now would cause it to be spread around the school and be very awkward. If I wait till the summer I can selectively let people know. I’m not going to wait
Until the last week of august or anything. I’m going to tell them early june. I guess I should tell my coaches in June when I tell everyone else</p>
<p>I don’t know. I let my soccer coach as soon as I made a decision; I thought that was only fair. You might want to give people ample time to adjust what they need for the next school year/sports season. I understand your fear of the awkwardness, but think about it. First of all, it won’t be that awkward as long as you have good reason for wanting to leave. And second, if it really does become that awkward, you’re leaving really, really soon and won’t have to deal with it for very long. I’m just thinking people might be upset if you wait to tell them until you’re practically gone. But again, every situation is different, just do what you feel is right; I can’t give you much advice past that.</p>
<p>Do you come from a small school? My school is very small and close and I know that a lot of people wouldn’t understand my decision. Im definitely going to consider my options when telling them.</p>
<p>Yeah, I come from a very small school. Most people found out I was leaving not from me personally. Sure, there are people that don’t quite understand, but you just have to be patient and communicate the positives of leaving.</p>