It’s weird.
But in a good way. While most of the other boarding students are either foreign or exchange students, I am from Indiana. I grew up in a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere called Winamac. It’s about an hour and a half from Goshen, so to be able to go to Bethany, I live with a host family during the week. I usually go home to Winamac on the weekends. My parents wanted to send me to Bethany because they’re both alumni of Iowa Mennonite School, so they wanted my brother and I to have the same kind of experience they had in high school.
As a freshman, I was thrown into an entirely new situation. I was in a new town, a new house, living with a new family, and going to a new school. I didn’t really have anything familiar around me, and it was scary. While I didn’t have culture shock in the sense of what foreign or exchange students experience, I did have some. I wasn’t used to being a part of a small group or eating together at the table everynight. And everyone was so nice! It didn’t take long to feel like I was a part of Bethany.
It took a little bit longer to adjust to living in Goshen. It seemed so huge! I know that sounds silly to most of you, but you have to realize that Goshen is thirteen times bigger than Winamac. It took me about a year to learn how to get to places like Shanklin Park and Linway Cinema. I’d hear people complaining about how there is nothing to do in Goshen, and I’d be completely shocked. To someone from Winamac, where the only thing to do is go to the one screen movie theater that plays the same movie for three weeks, Goshen is a happening place!
One of the weirdest things about going to Bethany is not living with my parents. Living away from home gives me a lot more independence than the average teenager. If I decide I want to go to the Chief with a friend one night, I can just go. I don’t have to ask my parents, or even tell them. I just have to tell my host family where I’m going. While having some extra independence is nice, it’s kind of hard to live away from my parents. I don’t cry myself to sleep every night or anything, but it’s weird not talking to them everyday. Luckily though, they live close enough that they are often able to come to my soccer games and performances.
Even though it’s weird to live away from home just to go to high school, I’m really glad I have the opportunity to go to Bethany. I’m so much happier at Bethany than I could ever be if I went to the high school in Winamac. By “sending me away,” my parents made the decision that was best for me. But I’m glad they didn’t send me too far away.
~Sammy~