Asheville School - Review #2

Required Afternoon Activities made our campus pretty special. You were forced to sign up for either a sport, music, theater, or art to take up your afternoons. It was pretty beneficial because it made people try sports or activities that they normally wouldn't try.Headmaster's Holiday. Randomly, the headmaster could announce that the following day would be a day off from school. It was like a surprise vacation and it greatly boosted school spirit.Chapel Talks. Every senior is required to give a speech about whatever he or she chooses at chapel every year. It can be motivational, reflective, religious, or anything that person likes. It helps with public speaking and gives every senior a chance to deliver a message to the school.

I think Wrestling taught me a lot about self-discipline and perseverance. It was the hardest sport I have ever done, and it was very physically demanding.Dorm live also helped develop my social skills. Living with 29 other people on my floor, I was socializing constantly, and it made me better friends than I could think possible with someone at a normal high school. We were around each other literally all day every day, so it was a great bonding experience.

It's cliche, but don't be afraid to talk to anyone. The school is small, and people are going to know who you are regardless of what you do. You can't just stand in the shadows and go unnoticed.Particular advice: Try to know everyone's names as soon as possible. Go on the goblues.org website and look at the student pictures and try to get everyone's names down. Trust me, it will help you in the long run when you know who everyone is quickly. That's the most specific advice I can think of. That, and always check wikipedia, but I'm sure they'll probably already know that.

Dorm Life.

Anderson Dorm was the best. 2nd Anderson in particular, but things change so who knows if it's still the same.Waking up early before class and going to waffle house with some friends is always a fun thing to do and a good change.

I liked having to do a senior demonstration. It was a big project that every senior had to do. The best part is that you get to choose your topic, so it's pretty much free for any category you like (science, history, literature, etc.)I also liked our study hall system. If you were on honors, you were allowed to close your door during study hall, giving you freedom to do whatever you want as long as you kept your grades up. If you were a Junior and on honors, you could go to the library freely during study hall.

There was a lot of school spirit for athletics, whether it was football or girls cross-country. People showed up to events, which was really great. The small school meant that you would probably play a good amount on any sport you chose, but we were still competitive with other schools. Great gym too.

The theater program was great because students were required to go to at least one of the performances. It was great because you knew everyone in the school was going to see it. The theater teachers were excellent and the stage was great.

Student Council was great because it gave the students the freedom to try to change any big thing that they felt needed attention. When I was president, there was a big issue surrounding instant messaging that was blocked on campus. Student Council was able to get it unblocked, except for times during study hall. Overall student council was a great leadership developing opportunity.

I loved living in the dorm. Probably my favorite memories was having Counter-Strike LAN parties, where we would all play a computer game on the same server, so ultimately I knew the other 15 people I was playing against online. It was a spectacle and a serious competition. Lot's of fun. Also, sneaking into each others' rooms after lights out was pretty bold, I enjoyed it a lot.

The food was generally excellent and you got to be waited on every meal. Unfortunately, sometimes you were the waiter, but that wasn't that bad. It was a good learning experience and generally delicious food. Seating assignments were changed every 2 weeks so you got to talk with different people every rotation.

Asheville is just an amazing city. It's so unique and interesting. It's quite an oddball city to be in the middle of the south. Downtown is very hip. Closer to school was nice because it wasn't too far from Ingles.

I liked hanging out on the weekends in general. Being on hall or in the common rooms, there were bound to be people who were hanging out. It got me to get close to a lot of people, whether we were watching a movie in a common room or going out to eat on the weekends.