Post date: Jul 18, 2017 12:42:45 PM
It was around the October of my grade 8 school year when my parents and I received great news about winning a scholarship to study in a boarding school in the UK for my second semester of the year. At the time, my family and I were all celebrating but immediately knew that we had to go shopping for clothes, after all, I was going to travel to the UK in a couple of months!
Let's skip past the shopping and preparation process all the way to the travelling day. I remember waking up early and shouting "today is the day!" It never crossed my mind that I was going to miss my family until the very last moment that I got to see them. This was grade 8 and I was already experiencing a jest of what leaving to study in universities abroad would feel like. Skipping past the wonderful flight, the next major event that happened was our (we were a group of 6 so far) arrival to the campus. Words cannot describe the beauty of this campus. I knew that Bath was a beautiful city, but I will never believe that such a beautiful school campus could be found in this world. The beauty of this campus was not found in the entertainment or utilities around us, but in the wonders of nature. Rivers, grasslands, huge tress, and even herds of sheep found in the fields are just a few of many extraordinary things that were found throughout the campus. I was never a jogger, nor was I ever a morning walker, but the mystery that this campus provided, motivated me to become all those things that I previously listed. Words cannot do this campus any justice.
Moving on, the rooms were nice, clean, and tidy. Four students lived together in a single room and there was also an entertainment common room. I didn't spend much of my time in the common room but it did include a few computers, a PlayStation setup, and a pool table.
School life was very interesting at SIS UK. Students had a lot of freedom and time once the actual school day was over. We had around 6-7 exams a week which is a typical amount from the Sabis school network and it didn't feel too overwhelming. We also had a quiet studying time for approximately one hour on a daily basis.
How did I spend my time?
I usually spent around four hours of my day studying and reviewing for my exams. This amount of studying is a necessity, in order to cope with the Sabis system requirements and while many people find it to be overwhelming, I personally got used to it over my many years as a Sabis student. I also used to spend around two hours daily in the Sports Centre. The Sports Centre is basically a centre that provides sport entertainment options including a swimming pool, squash courts, football fields, table tennis courts, and many other options. I personally used to spend most of my time playing football with my friends and we also spent most of our time in this centre during the weekends.
Fieldtrips
I also wanted to point out that we had many fieldtrips throughout the semester. We always had small (mini) fieldtrips during the Wednesday of every week. Those fieldtrips were for relatively short in length entertainment. Examples could be Paintball arenas, movie theatres, and Go Karting tracks.
We also had long (all day) field trips that occurred on a weekly basis. Those were during one of our weekend days and we usually departed early in the morning and returned late at night. Examples of entertainment include: Madame Tussauds, Big Ben, London's Eye, The Roman Baths, Long Leat Safari Expedition and many others that I did not list.
Overall, this is one of my best, if not the best, experiences that I had. I remember it all the way from the very first moments in which I was amazed by the beauty of the campus, all the way to the very last moment in which I was saddened to leave. I would recommend this experience to anyone and if I had the opportunity, I would definitely go again. I also loved the fact that the teachers also slept and stayed on campus which aided in the building of a strong teacher-student relationship.
Note: The Sabis International School website will be posted under links and resources.
Note: I just got the news that the name of the school has be changed to Ashwicke Hall School.