Middlesex School - Review #26

Middlesex’s campus is based around a circle. For the duration of the Fall and Spring seasons, Middlesex’s social life is also based around that circle. Hanging out on the circle is a vital part of being a member of the Middlesex community. For some students, hanging out on the circle requires a frisbee and three other people passing the Frisbee. Other students might rather bring out a Chemistry book and study for an upcoming test. Really, any method of hanging out on the circle is an appropriate way to take advantage of the opportunity to unify that the Middlesex landscape presents.

The best part about boarding school was the amount of sports that I was able to participate. Without going to boarding school in the Northeast, I would never have been exposed to crew. Also, I wouldn’t have been able to play football, wrestle, and row crew on all three varsity teams during my Middlesex career without the athletic system that boarding school provides. I was also exposed to a community service program that I stumbled upon through friends. Idon’tt think I would have been so active in community service without boarding school. I felt comfortable enough at my school and with my surroundings to attend a soup kitchen each Thursday almost without fail. Middlesex helped me to grow-up and understand the value of the education that I received. Without Middlesex, I would not have been exposed to so many different sports, people, and opportunities that I experienced and truly enjoyed during my career at Middlesex.

I wouldn't have done anything differently before or during my boarding school experience. Trying new things is definitely an integral part of boarding school. You cannot go into the program with a closed mind. Any new experience requires one to be open to new possibilities, and new opportunities are endless at Middlesex.

The bond that forms with the faculty. At Middlesex, you can develop solid relationships with your faculty that would be unattainable at most other schools. By sheer luck, I had the same English teacher for six semesters. That is unheard of at Middlesex, but he was the hardest English teacher, and I know I am a better writer after taking his class. He was also my crew coach, so during the spring semester I would pretty much spend all day every day with him. He is an amazing man, and I truly enjoyed getting to know him during my time at Middlesex, and he is just one example of the great faculty Middlesex has to offer.

Be open to new sports. You never know what hidden athletic talent you may have until you have tried a variety of sports.

The academics offered at Middlesex provide a student with an opportunity to truly show their capabilities as both contributors in the classroom and performers outside of the class. Each class has about 12 kids, and those numbers decrease through the years as students become more diverse in their course selections. The teachers at Middlesex are not simply teaching to earn a paycheck. They are there because they are passionate about their subjects (many of them hold doctorates), and enjoy teaching high school age kids about the teacher’s subject. As my biology teacher told me from the first test we took freshman year, “When you start at Middlesex, you enter a competition, in everything.” You may be pushing for Academic Honors in academics, or making a Varsity team, but Middlesex students are surely competitive. That is what makes them so great. The experience of managing yourself in the spirit of competition motivates you for the rest of your life to not simply accept what is considered normal; but instead, to strive for greatness.

I love the athletics at Middlesex. Before coming to Middlesex, I had only played football in middle school, and was not even sure how well that would transfer into high school. Middlesex has a mandatory three sports rule for freshman and sophomores. Two sports for juniors. One sport for seniors. This rule is a beautiful thing. As you excel in a sport that you may have picked up freshman and sophomore year, you can focus that skill until that sport is all you have to do senior year. I began with football, wrestling, and crew my freshman year, and immediately found a love for the coaches at Middlesex and the degree of competition that the Middlesex students foster with their competitors. By junior year, I was tri-varsity in all three sports. Without Middlesex pushing me towards trying these sports, I might not have done a sport at the high school level.

Although I have never been a really artistic person, Middlesex exposed me a lot more to the arts than I think I would have experienced had I gone anywhere else. Freshman and sophomores are required to take Drama, Drawing, Art History, and Music. These four courses give students a broad range of arts that they may be interested in to fulfill their art credit required of them at some point in their junior or senior year. I may not have ever been a part of the art department, but when they put on a show, everyone makes it a point to show up. The plays that I have seen at Middlesex have been spectacular. The art exhibits throughout the theater put all students’ work on display, and the musical performances at spring/winter concerts are always worthwhile. As I have previously mentioned about the faculty, the art teachers love their field, and their passions reflect in the quality and personality of the art that Middlesex students produce.

At the beginning of every Academic year at Middlesex, the school has a school assembly dedicated to the announcement of clubs that will be meeting throughout the year. The clubs vary from political party clubs to a tea club. Each year, about 20 clubs meet on campus, and all are invited to join each club. During my Middlesex career, I made it a point to attend a soup kitchen every Thursday night in Concord called “Open Table” that Middlesex helps to support throughout the year.

At Middlesex, I lived in three different dorms. Each dorm has its own individual personality, and even that may change each year as the variety of students living in that dorm changes. I really enjoyed the diversity of the students in the dorms. I got to know people with all different types of backgrounds. Having grown up in Texas, I had not really encountered anyone with any different background than what I was accustomed. The kids I lived with in the dorms opened my eyes to the different opportunities and ways of life that exist in the world. I think most of the fun of going to Middlesex comes from life in the dorms, and bonding with your schoolmates. Your first year, dorms are selected at random. After that, there is a request form provided where you can request who you would like to live in a dorm with, or even share a room with. Majority of Middlesex dorm rooms are singles; however, there are about two doubles in each dorm, and a couple of quads in different dorms. I enjoyed living in both singles and a quad at Middlesex. At first, I was kind of concerned about living in a quad, but it turned out to be an awesome experience.

Middlesex has cafeteria type dining. The seating is not assigned. The meals at Middlesex are not required, but not eating would make it a little hard to function, as Middlesex students are typically very active. The cafeteria is open for most of the day, and dinner is open from 5:30 to about 7:00. The food at Middlesex is all right by cafeteria standards. Nothing to write home about, but sometimes the food will surprise you, as there are a few things the cafeteria does really well. Each day the food is different than the day before, though sometimes they will offer leftovers as an option, but they only serve a specific dish about once a month. Overall the dining at Middlesex was a positive, especially because you can eat as much food as your want, and there is ice cream every day.

Concord is the nearest town from Middlesex. The bus into town leaves about once every thirty minutes from Middlesex, and getting into town is very easy. Concord is a small town with a couple of cool stores and a lot of restaurants. There are a few sandwich shops, Chinese food, and Sorrento’s Pizza. Also, there is a Dunkin Doughnuts and a Starbucks. The commuter train will take you into Boston if you need to go; however, there is usually not enough time to make it all the way into Boston and back out on weekdays, only on weekends if you don’t have sports. Overall, Concord is a really fun little town, though the whole thing shuts down at around seven.

Life at Middlesex involves a lot of social interaction between students. You make friends on the fields during sports, in the classrooms, and in the dorms. Living in a dorm forces you to associate with other students, and become friends or at least friendly with others. Life at Middlesex teaches a student how to be social and relate with others in a way that cannot be replicated in any other environment.