Kent School - Review #16

Kent School offers a variety of elements that set it apart from other schools, at least in my experience. To promote a sense of responsibility to academics and to the institution itself, each student is mandated to participate in a "jobs program" with a wide range of different responsibilities. Some students are required to do clean up type work around the campus, whereas other students might work as tour guides or student techs to serve as their job requirement. I found that this program made it so that all students had a higher level of respect and responsibility for the school itself. Secondly, the healthy balance of academics and athletics is top notch at Kent. In my time alone our school had multiple New England Championships across a variety of our Varsity level sports, all the while offering and encouraging students to take a multitude of AP courses.

The best thing to happen to me at boarding school was simply to grow up. I like to think that while at boarding school I became an adult. I learned to have conversations, to think critically and empathetically. I learned how to learn. I learned how to be a global citizen. In short, as I said, I simply grew up in what I think is probably the best way.

If I could do anything differently while at boarding school I would have appreciated absolutely every minute of it in a way that I did not. After four years at Kent I was ready for something new and admittedly wished away a bit of my senior year. The moment I graduated I knew just how much I would miss that place and I have missed it every day since. Wherever a student ends up... Appreciate every moment of the incredible opportunities afforded in boarding school.

Overall I would say I liked the genuine nature of most of the people on Kent's campus. The teachers are there to mold students into bright and engaged people. The students for the most part are there to become those bright and engaged people. And most of all, I love that I (at the very least) was put on the path to becoming someone like that by going to Kent.

I would suggest any incoming student to, as I have said, appreciate every minute you get to spend at Kent. Dive in to as much as you can on campus. Get yourself a Steak and Egg from the SC (Student Center), and work your tail off so you can live in Hoerle come your senior year.

At Kent I found that teachers encouraged students to put forth their best effort in any and all classes they were in. Whether I was in a freshman year English class or my AP Calc class my senior year, the teachers demanded the same level of dedication to course work. At times this could be stressful, but by the end of my four years I found this level of encouragement invaluable. Furthermore, the Harkness method of teaching (promoting class discussion) allowed for ideas to flow naturally from students and teachers alike. It seemed to me that the teachers at Kent were willing to and excited about genuinely learning with their students.

Students in their underclassmen years are required to at least try out for interscholastic sports. While this may seem excessive, it serves to get students active and get them involved in the "team atmosphere" that can be achieved best in an athletic environment. However, some students extra-curricular requirements can be met by other activities. I found my coaches to serve as more than just coaches. For me, some of them were mentors that I will forever be grateful for the role they played in my high school career and beyond.

While I did not participate in the arts as much as I could have at Kent, I went to as many performances as I could and the quality of production and clear passion of the students involved in those programs was undeniable. With new facilities being added all the time, Kent has shown a clear dedication to Visual Arts.

I participated most notably in the FOCUS program at Kent. FOCUS is the Fellowship of Christians in Universities and Schools. This program was somewhat of a youth group at Kent that truly helped me to keep a healthy balance of academic, athletic, social and spiritual life at Kent.

While some of the dorms are small and some are slightly outdated, as students are at Kent longer the facilities available to them improve. In my senior year I had the opportunity to live in Hoerle Hall, the newest dorm on campus and it was an incredible experience in terms of facilities. Even as an underclassman, I always found the dorms to be welcoming and the dorm parents dedication to their students was always evident.

The dining hall improved with each year I spent at Kent. For me to comment on it for today would be inaccurate because I have no doubt that the improvements have continued. I will say, I was never hungry and never unable to find something good to eat.

The town of Kent often feels like an extension of the campus. Students are able to, within the designated hours, walk freely into and out of town. Kent, CT speaks for itself as a wonderful place to go and spend a couple of hours. There are plenty of shops and places to eat and students are often using the town as a place to go out and be social with their peers.

The social life at Kent, as with any other school, is exactly what you make of it. I found myself in groups of friends that were as varied as I could imagine. People are willing to and eager to engage in real conversation about real topics and issues. I think the best way to describe the social community at Kent is just to talk about my senior year roommates. I lived in a triple and we had two day students with keys to our room. Of the five of us, three of us were varsity captains, one was the lead in the musical, I was a head tour guide, a roommate of mine was a lead tech, and we were all honors and high honors students. The social opportunities at Kent are boundless and do not conform to the "cliquey" nature of high school.