| SIAsensacion |
08-20-2004 02:09 PM |
I attended a Quaker boarding school for one year and had an "interesting" experience.
Overall, Quakers are passive when it comes to religion. We had "meeting" (Quaker version of liturgy, mass, service, etc.) once a week. Quaker meeting is VERY different from your average church service. Everyone sits there in silence, and once in a while, if someone is "moved" to speak, they stand up and talk about something. At 14 years old, the long, drawn-out periods of silence were a little much for me, so I used to bring my Bible and read. I think meeting is supposed to be a time of meditation, self-examination/reflection, prayer, etc.
Quakers are passivists overall. They are COMPLETELY anti-war and pro-peace. They also believe that everyone is equal in the eyes of God. Overall, I think that these beliefs are really admirable (Quakers generally stick to their guns about the war issue, and about their beliefs in general). However, some of the beliefs didn't necessarily translate well to the school setting. At 14, I wasn't really ready for a "passive" school setting. I needed structure and discipline. If structure and discipline are what you are looking for, a Quaker school probably shouldn't be the first place you look. Also, the "everyone equal in the eyes of God" belief (which I think is a great mentality) meant no Honors or Advanced Placement courses, and no try-outs for any sports teams. In my opinion, I agree that everyone is equal, but that doesn't mean that we all have the same athletic or academic abilities. I am a person who always did well in honors classes and benefited from the extra challenge, so I definitely felt like I was missing out in that respect. On the other hand, I am not exactly Sporty Spice material, and the "no tryouts" rule allowed me to claim my place on the only sports team I have ever been a part of--the tennis team. I was TERRIBLE. I had absolutely no skill (although my backhand was pretty good), and the only way I would usually score points--I held my racket incorrectly, at an angle, and when I would hit the ball, the ball would pop up really high into the air. The opposing team would get blinded by the sun trying to look for the ball (LOLOL), and the ball would plop back down on the court and bounce away. So even though I had no skill and did not help my team with any type of ranking whatsoever, I had a lot of fun, and I probably would never have had that chance if there were tryouts.
Overall a good school with a lot of opportunities and experiences that you wouldn't find at many schools, but just not the right environment for me. After my year at Quaker school, I transferred to a Catholic school and did VERY well there. :) So Quaker schools are good schools, but not for everyone.
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