Wyoming Seminary Upper School - Review #2

One aspect that makes Sem unique is Society Day. It is a campus wide event at the end of the school year. The students divide up into four teams and participate in a variety of activities, similar to an olympic style event. Everyone is involved and each society gets their own t-shirts. The hype gets built up throughout the year and it is just a ton of fun. One aspect of it that I find very exciting is that they carry legacies. For example, if someone gets placed on the Florentine society and they have a younger sibling or child end up attending Sem, they will be a member of Florentine as well.Another aspect are free bells. If a student was in good academic standing, they would get study hall replaced with free bells where the student is not locked in a room and can do whatever they want as long as they stay on campus during that bell period.

The best thing that has happened to me in boarding school is it allowed me to grow up and prepare for college. Between the academics and the social aspect it is pretty much a college setting in high school. I loved having the freedoms as long as I took care of my work. They make students be accountable for their work and knowing I did what I had to do, it was an enjoyable time while I matured to an adult.

One thing I would have done differently is open up a bit more. The beginning is the easiest time to make friends as everyone is getting to know each other. If this is done you will have friends from all over the world for the rest of your life.

I liked the freedoms and the structure of the school. I am very serious about my academics and Sem was the place to be for me. I liked to do my work without being pressured and locked in to do it. I felt it was much more tolerable having freedoms of when and where to do your work.

Get involved. It will be the best decision you can make for friendships and to build your college resume. Be sure to attend as many sporting events you can. They are a lot of fun!

The academics at Seminary are very challenging. Coming from a public school, there was definitely an adjustment, but the environment encouraged students to do more work. I felt much more prepared for college and had practically no adjustment to the college academics.What I liked most about it was the positivity. If a student does poorly on a test, they do not get in trouble. Since it is a small school, the faculty are able to check on the student and see what went wrong and help them do better to succeed. They are very positive in teaching.

The athletics are the top in the area. There are a variety of sports and what is most known is the wrestling program as they are top of the country every year.I really enjoyed the ice hockey. Being one of the only Americans, it was a fun experience playing with teammates from all over the world and learning their cultures.

The visual arts, music, and theatre program are taken very seriously at Sem. There are many faculty who support it. The addition of the new KCCA building for the arts helps the program tremendously as well. I enjoyed watching their events as they are very professional.

There are many extracurriculars at Sem. Whether it's a sport, the theatre, or the hacky sack club, there is something for everyone. The Sem community is all about getting involved and I like that because it can help shy students take that first step of joining a club.

The dorms are old fashioned but kept in good shape. You can have 1 or 2 roommates, or none at all. Every floor has a dorm parent who lives on campus which is usually a teacher. A common thing about Sem is it being a positive community which definitely applies to the dorms. Check in is at 11 which can be a pain but they are very structured with the dorm life.

There are 3 meals a day. These are the only times to eat on campus. The food is a hot topic at Sem. It is delicious and buffet style. They have a variety of meals and they are planned at the beginning of every week. For dinner, there is assigned seating once or twice a week for "family style." Students are randomly assigned to a table with a teacher and it is a way to get to know other people.

The surrounding area is in the middle of Kingston. It is a small town but lots of locations around Sem. There is a Walgreen's across the street along with a bank and some restaurants nearby. The most notable place is right next to Sem which is called Sweet Treet. It is a locally owned breakfast place that is delicious and not expensive, two attributes that a prep student would love.

The social life is much different than my public school. It is much less judgmental and there is not as much bullying. Sem is a tight knit community where everyone pretty much gets along.