Friday evenings have electricity in the air, especially when you don’t have Saturday classes. Music fills the campus, spike ball and open gym are the spots, but it seems that campus has become awfully quieter on Saturday mornings.
Boarding schools like Williston can feel like both a vacation and a challenge. It’s a place filled with friends, sports, and constant moving parts; it demands energy, attentions, and time. After a long week of classes, some students who live close by look forward to going home to relax with their pets, family, or have some privacy.
“Weeks at Williston are very busy,” says Dean Ruksnaitis, a Williston football player and a boarder. He feels going home allows him to “recharge more than when I am at school.”
That feeling has been shared by many this year so far. Weekends at boarding school are meant to be time for rest and fun, but lately campus has been a little quieter than usual. Sixty students checked out during the first open weekend of the year. Since then, those number have steadily dropped: 55 week 2, 55 week 3, and 52 week 4, averaging around 56 students a week. This decline can be attributed to students feeling more comfortable on campus. That could be finding their group of people, or finally setting up their room just the way they want it.
This shift raises a few growing questions, what makes students want to leave? And what makes them want to stay?
The decline of students checking out on the weekends can be attributed to students feeling more comfortable on campus. That could be finding their group of people, or finally setting up their room just the way they want it. While for some, home offers a kind of solitude that can both be relaxing and recharging. With thirty or more people sharing a building, privacy can be hard to come by. That is why some students say they go home to reset mentally or to catch up on rest before another demanding week.
Still, others appreciate returning to their on-campus home after a long day or game.
“If we win a football game, I’d love to go and just hang out at the dorms,” said David Sanger, a day student from Longmeadow.
The he school has tried to bring more together on the weekends with events and activities, but the turnout depends on the people who are here.
“The success of events depends on the number of student on campus,” explains Caroline Channell, Williston’s Assistant Dean of Students for Community Life. “Our Wildest Cats choose the main weekends activities each week, but I’ve noticed more kids going home this year. I wish more people stayed, but they are doing what they want to do, which is the goal of weekend activities.”
Still, for those who stay, weekends have a special charm. There are spaces to breathe, slow down, and appreciate the smaller moments of this beautiful campus.
