What it’s Like Being a Lifer at Sandy Spring
“Going to a Pre-K-12 school for your entire life is a huge double edged sword.”
Going to a Pre-K-12 school for your entire life is a huge double edged sword. I first started going to Sandy Spring Friends school in Pre-Kindergarten when I was four years old and haven’t left since. My mom had been working at Sandy Spring even before I was born and it was the school that my sister was going to at the time I was born. When it came time for me to pick an elementary school it was pretty much a given that I would go to Sandy Spring. I have had a wonderful experience here and I will always love this school, but going to the same place every single day for fourteen years can have its drawbacks.
One of the biggest problems with going to the same school for so long is that it makes it much harder for you to adapt to new things. There is a sense of comfort in coming back to the same place every year, without the concerns of making friends and trying to find your way around. Then after fourteen years you have to pick up and move on in life. This process of leaving a place that you’ve called home for fourteen years and moving to a whole new school and town where you don’t know anyone is a traumatic and life changing thing.
Another issue with going to the same school for fourteen years is that you won’t know as many people as your friends who came from other bigger schools. As the years go by friendships will come and go as people come to and leave your school, but staying the same place means that you won’t meet as a many people and have as many friendships you would, if you were to have gone to several schools like many of your friends did.
But, for me, despite a few disadvantages of being a lifer , I will always be very grateful that I got the opportunity to go such a wonderful school for both my grade school and pre grade school career. Like I said, there are some disadvantages to being a lifer. But, there is a reason that I have made the choice to go to Sandy Spring for long. That reason is because Sandy Spring is a truly unique and wonderful place to grow up. Overtime you make and build relationships with friends and teachers that are unlike those at other schools. There is always a sense of community and togetherness that is unmatched at other schools. So, when people ask me “what made you stay for so long,” I tell them, “why would I go anywhere else?”
Hello, my name is Peter Byhouwer. I am a senior and this is my second year as a member of the Wildezine staff. In addition to serving on the Wildezine...
Flint Eller • May 25, 2018 at 3:09 pm
As a fellow lifer, I understand where you are coming from, and I too worry about my ability to join new communities in the future. But there must be some value in being a part of the group that welcomes in so many new community members. I think this ability with be useful in the future, although it won’t solve all of the problems. I think the sense of pride I feel when realizing how few people get to call themselves lifers is a testament to how much this community has done for me. Its so cool that we get to have this in common. I know you will do great things Peter!
Eduardo Polon • May 24, 2018 at 8:47 pm
Congratulations, Peter, on navigating the past 14 years at SSFS and reaching this milestone, and thank you for helping to make our community what it is. Best wishes moving forward and don’t forget us!