St. John's Northwestern Academies - Review #4

The location of SJNMA I believe is unique to most boarding schools as it is located very close to downtown Delafield but while on campus you feel separated completely from the surrounding area. This allows for great visitation and weekend leave, but is also good for the students because the feel close to civilization while maintaining separation in important times. Another aspect I feel is unique is mandatory sports or activities in every season. While many schools require a sport or activity to be done once a year SJNMA requires one each season which allows students to explore things they may have never done before, which allows them to bond with other students and find new passions.

SJNMA allowed me to overcome insecurities, and grow as a person. It also taught me a great lesson in when is the right time to goof off or be serious. I think the best thing that SJNMA gave me were lifelong brothers. Not just friends but brothers who I can trust and count on when I'm in need.

I would have been more outgoing, you're going to get to know the kids your living with so you might as well start right away. I would say when you first arrive at SJNMA, introduce yourself to as many people you can and begin to try to learn as much as you can quickly, because the longer you take to adapt it can become stressful.

The brotherhood created with those older, younger and in my class. As well as the brotherhood with the alumni who choose to come back and share time with us.

I recommend using everything you can at the school, you have a lot more resources than you realize just seek them out especially your channels with old boys and alumni. And I highly recommend the golf course it's a lot of fun when there isn't much going on at the school and not many people use it.

During my time at SJNMA, the teachers as well as the rest of the staff really cared about ensuring that our work was done to the best of our abilities, and due to small class sizes we had the ability to truly bond with the teachers and learn new things, as well as learn individually.

The athletics at SJNMA allow you to try new sports and actually have the ability to play in games. With such a wide variety of students, SJNMA allows you to be a beginner in a sport and have teammates who grew up playing said sport. The coaches and captains have always been great at integrating new players and introducing them to the basics of the game.

I enjoyed the ability to take a variety of music courses at SJNMA, especially the bagpipe and highland drums. Its not a very common music course and builds a great comradery between the members.

I thought that the requirements of community service to be promoted is a great way to motivate high school students to get out there and do some community service. Along with the fun service opportunities that were available, they paired together greatly and allowed for our school to complete lots of projects for our community.

Being at SJNMA is not intended to be luxurious, while at the school you will have to face some fears of living with strangers, and that is a fact that scares many first time students. But the ability to live and work so closely with someone in the same position as you allows you to be prepared for college and social interactions that scare many away later in life. Living in the barracks allows you to learn to take care of yourself and those around you.

The availability of mouso, is great if you have a few extra dollars and would prefer a cooked to order burger or pizza. But the mess hall had a good variety of food on a daily basis and always had a soup or salad in case you didn't want the regular meal

Downtown Delafield is a great town for weekend passes, you have plenty of good food choices and nice lake and stream to hangout near, and occasionally fish. The golf course is also a fun time on a nice day in September or April.

Being a small school, everyone knows everyone, and you will definitely make friends within your company and the longer you stay you will soon realize you have friends throughout the school from around the world allowing you to have opportunities to travel places you wouldn't imagine and try the things you couldn't believe.