a new, more realistic understanding of a world with people from all types of backgrounds, sporting different kinds of interests and passions, and experiencing different kinds of struggles and hardship. However, along with this exposure to new people, I was also forced to reconcile with a new understanding of intelligence, talent, and wit—things I thought I had but realized early on that I was lacking greatly. At least that’s what it felt like. And so, Exeter for me became a battlefield of shattered confidence. 

Nevertheless, what I do know is that the boarding school provided me with a much needed reality check, and that I would not be who I am today if not for attending such an academy. All three children in my family attended this institution, and none of us overlapped; therefore, each of our experiences varied. While all three of us are in consensus that attending Phillips Exeter influenced our maturity drastically, I became curious as to whether the institution truly fostered growth in each of us individually—or if it simply broke each of our confidence, leaving us to pick up the pieces on our own and build ourselves back up in the next stages of life, leaving us to wonder if Exeter was truly worth it. And as I conversed with both my sister and brother about their own Exeter chapters, I began to learn more about myself in the process. Through these discussions and through this written exploration, I have been able to reconcile with my confounding attachment to my former years, to my former self. I have discovered what it is about Exeter, about high school, about adolescence that can be so nostalgic, so worth remembering despite the growing pains that come with change, and that can so profoundly impact an individual’s journey through the rest of their life. And by taking you along my personal sojourn into the past, I hope that you may learn something about your own journey of growth as well.