When I tell people in college that I attended an all-girls Catholic high school, the first question is always, “How did you do it? I don’t think I could ever survive without boys.” The reality of going to an all-girls school is so much different than everyone imagines and only someone who shared the same experiences can truly understand, but I’m here to burst a few bubbles and expose the truth. Here are some common misconceptions of an all-girls Catholic high school:
1. We all look like we’ve come straight out of Gossip Girl or a Britney Spears video.
This one is probably the biggest one. You heard it here folks, we all look like we’ve crawled out of hell with a cup of coffee the size of the Jesus portrait in the main lobby and bags under our eyes that could carry our monstrous textbooks. People fantasize about school girls with knee-high socks and short skirts, and the short skirts are right except right under our three-times-rolled skirts are a brightly colored pair of Nike shorts that hang lower than the actual skirt. Not to completely damage anyone’s view of how we look, but just to put it slightly, I brushed my hair every day and that was considered a great success. Along with the beautiful image I’ve already given you, add on a coffee-stained blouse with unevenly rolled sleeves and penny loafers that should’ve been replaced two years prior (they just hurt too much to break in). With no guys around you have to dress up for no one, not even yourself, and in the winter this means the addition of sweatpants under the skirt and enough layers to make you look like the Stay Puft marshmallow man.
2. We’re all lesbians.
I’m not saying that there won’t be lesbians, but believe it or not, we do actually come in contact with boys once in a while. In my case there was an all-boys school a couple towns over that is practically just an addition of my school. We go to sports games, we go to parties, we date outside of our school. Shocking, I know.
3. We’re all raging feminists.
While I have to admit, going to an all-girls school has made me rethink my values in this sense, but being empowered does not mean we are men-hating, vengeful femi-nazis that don’t shave our legs in the name of feminism (we have our own reasons for that). Having girls run every club and organization and obtain every position on the school board is enlightening to see and it has opened all of our eyes to the opportunities we have. We were still taught that whatever we do, do it the best we can, meaning if we wanted to grow up and have families or become President of the United States.
4. There is more drama because all of the drama queens are in one place.
Listen. There’s drama at every high school, and there was sure as hell drama at my school, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the drama was more frequent or all-consuming. If anything, there was less drama because the root of most high school drama lies in the subject of boys, which we were obviously missing from our community. All of the drama, at least in my class, stayed within friend groups and didn’t go beyond that. Going to a small school you know everyone and you grow close with the people in your classes or in clubs or teams, so you know a lot about people, but you learn what’s your business and what you should just keep your mouth shut about.
5. It must’ve been awful being with only girls for four years.
We’ve all had our ups and downs with our friends, that’s high school no matter the people in it, but going to an all-girls school is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. There was truly a community within that school and I wouldn’t have traded my experiences for anything. Being with all girls made life easier and a lot more fun. Everyone syncs up at some point, including the teachers, and you can just yell in the halls “DOES ANYONE HAVE A TAMPON???” and someone will throw one your way. Someone can start singing High School Musical in the locker room and they would be an entire symphony within seconds.
Going to an all-girls school has truly formed a bond between everyone, making us go from classmates to sisters within a mere few years. And I’m sure every girl reading this thinking “oh, this is literally my school” can relate to one thing: you wouldn’t have wanted to spend your four years of high school anywhere else.