Culver Academies - Review #7

The people of Culver Academies makes my school completely unique. The faculty and staff are comprised of a multitude of scholarly and well experienced individuals. Each member has their own impact with that they have to offer from their own accomplishments and personal opinions, but as a group they all care about each one of the students. I have spent many hours working after school with teachers dedicated to not just passing, but excelling through my Culver experience. It was the conversations that I had with mentors and various staff members about school and life that offered me and challenged my world views giving great influence to my character today.

Receiving my commission as a company commander gave me opportunities to expand my leadership style that would have not been offered to me otherwise. This achievement is coupled with hard work and many who believed in my potential past my initial impressions on many of my mentors and peers. Being able to lead the band as a unit towards excellence empowered me as an individual and as a leader helping me find my strengths and weaknesses as a leader.

I would have showed up ready to play. My attitude for the first year and a half was one not worthy of the school. As soon as I bought into the system by reducing my arrogance, I found that I could learn a lot more about myself and help others along the way. Go into everything with a full heart and the right mind or else you will get left behind by others who want it more than you.

The people, the people and the people. The faculty and staff along with the students create an environment that sucks you in and makes you want to succeed and push harder than you thought you could. It is extremely supportive and creates challenges for you otherwise not offered at any boarding school.

I will impart this wisdom on you, if you are a student that hungers for more then you are choosing the right place. For every seat that is occupied, others want it just as bad or even more. Deserve that seat by choosing to go beyond your comfort zone and continuously challenge yourself. It will not always be easy, but trust me when I say it will be worth it. And if you go to the shack, get a strawberry shake. They are awesome!

The one thing that sets the academics apart Culver from any other boarding school are the teachers. The material can be presented by anyone anywhere with the high amount of work and excellence expected, but the way you learn is extremely important for retention and application. Each teacher has refined their methods of teaching to students capable of making adjustments in the classroom to fit your personal needs and extended tutoring sessions if necessary. They are willing to work with you for hours as I can support from personal experience. The way you learn is unique and teachers at Culver will do their best to help fill that need for you in a way that will prepare you for college and life further down the road.

The athletics program for me introduced me personally to fencing, but as a whole opened my eyes to many sports I had not previously seen or even heard of. Where I was from, it was unheard of to watch a game of polo on a Saturday and then see a lacrosse game on Sunday. At Culver the experiences are open to you and the opportunities to try new sports is available to you with wonderful equipment, helpful coaches and staff and other driven students who are about seeking excellence and will help you along the way.

The world is constantly moving and sometimes we forget to take time to value what is already beautiful around us. At Culver, the ability to appreciate the arts is expected of a leader in a world becoming more and more connected by different cultures and different people. The diversity in programs, classes and performances given by professionals and students is unparalleled and truly valuable when encountering others in the world.

What I liked about my school was that if you couldn't find something you wanted to do, you could create a club to suit your need to express your opinion. There are many clubs already from the living history club that reenacts WWII era times to the information technology club that works with computers and rising technology, but if you can't find a club you are encouraged to create one. I created one myself with my idea of parkour (free running). Having people joining in on my club also empowered me and made me feel even more like a leader.

Your best friends are five feet away from you in the room across the hall. Those people you do everything with from playing games at night, long talks about life and just about anything else. Those are the friends I continue to talk to and spend good time with today when I can because those are the life long friends that started at Culver as you will too if you make this journey.

The quality of the food is better than what I have now at my college. They accommodate to any dietary needs and do a great job of diversifying the food to keep you interested. If you have a request and fill out the request form, your request will be answered and then put into processing meaning you can have an actual impact on what you eat.

The school's town and surrounding region is peaceful and perfect for the Culver environment. Within walking distance, there are a couple of restaurants shops that are comforting to go to and the lake makes for a nice summer swim. Beyond in a car drive is Chicago for about two hours and then within 15 minutes are more restaurants in the next town.

Being surrounded from people around the world offers you the opportunity to prick the minds of the world. No one person shares the total same beliefs leaving an extremely cultured environment and enough time to learn about people and their culture. This, coupled with great friends made for a lot of relaxing time hanging out and enjoying my weekends.