My Impression of Boarding

Max Zhang
"Boarding has sincerely been a great experience for me. I’ve learned so much from my peer and teachers by just being a boarder in the three weeks I’ve been here. Simply participating in school activities, getting to know the community, and simply just having fun and joking around with friends, I can feel that I have changed. I really love everything there is to love about boarding, but if I had to choose one of these things, I would have to choose the experience of making friends. You really get to know a person well at boarding. You literally live in the same house as them. Not only friends, but teachers too! You honestly get the best help you can get. Due to living on campus, all the teachers are always there for you. If you need anything, the staff is always there to get you what you need. It’s hard for somebody to explain and describe the great experience I’ve had at SMUS that is boarding. One really has to be there and experience it for themselves to truly understand this priceless experience. In boarding there are ups and downs, struggles and successes, but I believe, that at the end of all this, that my SMUS boarding experience is an experience that I will never forget".


My favorite thing about boarding is sleeping
Sleeping is fun
Sleeping is tiring
Sometimes when I wake up from sleeping I am really tired
Sleeping also makes you less tired
Sleeping is like recharging
So when I wake up from sleeping
I sleep to make myself less sleepy and tired
YA FEEL ME BRO

Hi! I’m Abby and I’m a grade 8 border in Timmis. It’s pretty fun being a border, you get to make a lot of friends and you get to have a lot of food and all that but the only sad part about it is being away from your family but you don’t really have much time to think about home because everyday you’re occupied with something new and you’re always on the go.

On my first week of boarding I was pretty much a wreck I really missed my parents and I didn't really know what to do because I was a really lazy person at home and I had everything done for me. Luckily I had a bit of help from the returning students especially Cara and Siri, they basically taught me how to do the laundry and [use] the dryer, so yeah I really have improved a lot. There were a lot of times in that week when I taught about coming home I really got homesick, I was worried about my friends because they fight a lot and I’m usually the peacemaker to get them to stop. Two things stopped me from coming home; one because my school starts at June so if I stopped and went back home I would have to go to school next year because they didn't really accept students in the middle of the term. Second is my mom paid a lot of money for me to come here so I can’t really say I wanna come home when she’s already paid for the entire year

On my second week I was starting to get a hang of things we went to a lot of places and I forgot to mention on the first week we went to Sushi Island and the mall so it was pretty fun. On the second week I had so much homework and I really don’t like homework I mean what kid likes homework. What also happened last week was I got in trouble so my roommate and I got an earlier curfew which I don’t recommend so just a reminder never get in trouble if you wanna stay up till 10:00. Last Friday again all of the grade 8 borders including me went shopping because on Saturday we went to Salt Spring market. It was so much fun in Salt spring that I even bought my younger sisters a present and on Sunday we did the Terry Fox run and to say I was tired was an understatement but I was totally fine with it because I know it was for a good cause and I also went to Emma C.’s who was coincidentally my partner for com skills so it was fun to get to know her better because had to write a speech about her. We had so much fun in the party but though all the borders were invited only some went but it was still fun.

I’m now approaching my third week in boarding, I can tell you this I tried out for border squash which was super fun and I heard that we were going bowling on friday and that we may have a hike on Sunday. See I told you almost no time for homesickness since you’re going to be so busy anyway that’s all for today so this is Abby signing off...

Maria Alonso
"Boarding this three weeks has been great. It's a new experience for me, but I really love it. I enjoy meeting new people and being with my new friends. I have been here just for three weeks, and I can tell that I will have a great year. I also have learned a lot of things in this little time. Sometimes I feel something, but it's normal. Everyone feels the same. But I try to have a great time when I'm having a bad day. I love my room, my roommate, my houseparents, the school, the afternoons, I really like the food, etc. I think my English is improving very quickly. I just love everything. I have met a lot of different people, different cultures... and I can tell that it is awesome to learn from them. Even tough I can't go outside alone, I like going out with the houseparents. It's nice to talk to them in the trips. The school is also very good. I have learned a lot in only this weeks. My favorite class is French because its a new thing for me. I really like Mr. Hollingworth and the way he teaches. The day students are also nice. There is only one thing I can tell... This experience has been great and I love SMUS".