When I arrived at Hotchkiss as a Prep, I wasn’t expecting much. I've always been an introverted person so friends were not on the forefront of my mind, and academics have never been an issue for me, no matter the difficulty. I came into Hotchkiss with a few of the usual high school stereotypes. I thought there would be the jocks, nerds, rude popular girls, sluts, etc. I was just wondering where I would fit into the social hierarchy. As a returning Lower Mid, I’m happy to say that none of the stereotypes I came into Hotchkiss with are still with me today. There are no jocks and nerds, because the people who start on the football team also get the best grades in the school. There are no rude popular girls because everyone tries to be kind to…show more content… There were fights, arguments, intolerance and ignorance; however, these issues were outweighed by examples of love, agreements, acceptance and understanding. In addition, I’ve realized that losing sight of yourself and who you are is easy at Hotchkiss, or more specifically, boarding school. Being introverted is very difficult at Hotchkiss, there is always someone who is trying to play a sport with you, or trying to swim in the lake, or simply wants to hang out. As a black student, I found it very hard to relate to the other students who weren’t black. I found myself with the mindset that my family has instilled into me, “Don’t do what those white people do, you’re smarter than that.” However, staying in my room all day and night was not very interesting and I found myself finding any way possible to make friends. This meant changing the way I talk and how I react to different situations. When I came back home and did various workshops with the people from my community, I acted differently, more like myself. I didn’t like the fact that the Meszion at home was extremely different than the Meszion at school. Therefore, for this Lower Mid year, I plan to be
