Lincoln University, Pa.
- Barrett Wagner
Why did you decide to attend a boarding school?
The decision to come to a boarding school was not an easy one. It’s hard making a decision to leave behind your parents, friends, comfort, and security and to throw yourself into a completely new environment. Even harder still is to know that you have to spend four years like this. Oddly enough, I wanted this fear and excitement of starting a new life that was my own. I was excited to grow up, and I wanted a school that would force me to grow personally rather than just academically. I knew a boarding school would push me in multiple areas.
Why did you choose to attend EHS?
My oldest brother attended EHS for three years, and every time I came to visit, I would be captivated by the beauty of campus. I would be stuck in the back of the car for hours, and then all of a sudden we were at this wonderful place, and I couldn’t wait to get out of the car and walk around. When I finally got to eighth grade and started my high school application process, I knew EHS would be first on my list. At first, I was just excited about how big and beautiful the campus was, but once I took my first tour and found out all of the unique nuances that make EHS great, I knew it was a perfect fit for me. One thing that I liked the best, which set EHS apart from all the other schools I looked at, was the fact that EHS is 100 percent boarding. All of the students live together on campus, along with most of the faculty, making the School an extremely communal one.
How has EHS impacted your life?
EHS has changed me in more ways than I can understand at this point in my life. What I do know is that EHS has opened the door to many new friendships and experiences. The friends I have made at Episcopal will be lifelong relationships, which are all based around the strong bond of living, studying, eating, and learning together on campus. These friendships are invaluable to me, and I cannot imagine my life without them. EHS allows and encourages students to branch out, open up, and completely explore something new. Through these new explorations of oneself, whether in sports, academics, or the arts, students connect and grow with one another, forming exceptional and sturdy friendships.
Coming from a small town in southeast Pennsylvania, EHS offers exciting and frequent visits into D.C. which was a great change of pace when I first arrived. I love taking advantage of the city, and I love that EHS is willing and able to let students take advantage of all the cultural and educational opportunities D.C. has to offer. This summer, I had to opportunity to go on an EHS-sponsored trip to western Kenya, where Episcopal has partnered with a local Kenyan high school through the Elewana Education Project, in order to establish friendships and spark new connections between Kenyans and Americans. The three-week trip taught me a great amount about myself, my friends, and my life in America. I am tremendously grateful that Episcopal offered this experience to me, which was an extremely unique one.
How has your decision to attend boarding school affected your relationship with your parents?
It has been hard for my parents to step back and watch from the sidelines as I go through high school, but it has been even harder still to find the right balance between what I can take on myself and when I needed help from them. As I am away from home, at first I thought I was completely on my own and that my parents were just watching. It has always been hard for me to ask for help, and it got even harder with my false sense of complete independence. However, once I realized that I needed my parent’s wisdom and guidance, it slowly became easier for me to come to them, include them in what exactly is going on in my life, and let them help me.
What is your favorite part of EHS daily life?
The daily EHS schedule is quite demanding. On a normal day, there are many enjoyable parts of the day, but my favorite part is the time of day in between school and afternoon activities. This 45-minute window is used for tutorial, but when not in tutorial, I love walking back to dorm slowly and just plopping onto my bed once I get to dorm. After running around all day, it feels so nice to just sit, lie back, and relax. My roommate and I talk about what happened that day, what we are stressed, excited, or happy about, and then we get ready for sports. The break in the day, although fairly short, slows us both down, and I especially enjoy this small blip of down time and relaxation before starting the afternoon’s activities.
What have you learned about yourself by being a part of the EHS community?
The EHS community has taught me a lot about myself. The people I have met at The High School have changed my life in more ways than I can count. As all teenagers add responsibility and experience to their lives during high school, I have noticed incredible changes in myself with added tasks. The combination Episcopal has struck among academics, athletics, arts, and community life, forces students at EHS to grow up and take accountability of themselves. I have learned that I am able to balance these aspects of high school life in ways that make me happy and relatively stress free. The time-management skills which I have acquired during my time at EHS are just one of the many things I admire in my own high school growth.
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