For the first nine years of school, I wore a uniform: plaid skirts, stiff white polos, and tennis shoes. It was the dress code at St. Vincent de Paul, a small private school where tradition and expectations were sky-high. On paper, it seemed like the ideal place to get ahead, but over time, I realized it wasn’t the right environment for me.
SvdP was structured, and sometimes it was too strict. The expectations were high, but not always meaningful. Most students came from families with deep pockets, and while grades still mattered, the bigger advantage was access. Many of my classmates didn’t have clear goals because they didn’t need to. Their paths were already paved, whether or not they had direction.
I was constantly aware of how different my experience was. I wasn’t struggling but I also wasn’t thriving. Conversations at lunch were about vacations to Italy, shopping sprees, and trips to the country club everyone was a member at. The pressure to fit into a mold I didn’t align with wore me down. I was constantly putting on an act to try to fit in. School began to feel more like a performance than progress.
However, that all changed when I transferred to Elkhorn North.
Right away, I noticed how different everything was. There was more variety in perspectives, in experiences, and in goals. That was something private school didn’t offer. I met people who were working part-time jobs, planning for trade schools, and launching side hustles. Success didn’t look just one way, which made it easier for me to find my version of success.
The academic pressure didn’t disappear, but it became more manageable. I was able to choose classes that actually interested me, like journalism and foods, instead of being stuck in a rigid honors curriculum. I was learning things I actually cared about and getting better at them because I was invested.
The teachers were also different. Not just in personality, but in approach. They weren’t intimidating figures behind desks, instead they were approachable, open, and willing to talk to me like a real person. They saw students as individuals instead of just test scores.
Socially, I finally felt like I could breathe. I found friends who shared similar interests. People I could talk to without feeling like I had to filter myself, and I stopped worrying about fitting in and started paying attention to what actually mattered to me.
Private school isn’t bad; it works for some people. I enjoyed my time at the school and made many genuine friends. For me, public school offers more flexibility, relevance, and the chance to grow on my own terms. It doesn’t just support who I am, but it gives me space to figure it out in the first place.
