and fellow boarder
I have often wondered what an outsider would think if they wandered around one of our boarding houses at 8 in the morning. Dayboys are often mystified by the fact that we boarders can sleep in longer than anyone else, and yet are late for the start of school with impressive consistency. It is true that the morning can paint an unfavourable picture of our habits, but after 7 years of boarding at Abingdon School I have learnt that the boarding houses are not merely good homes, but also the beating hearts of the entire school. Perhaps because we conserve our energies through our late rising, boarders have a prodigious record of contributing to the academic and recreational activities here at Abingdon. There is scarcely a club or sports team which does not have the school’s permanent residents at its core.
Some would say that it is Abingdon’s wide range of pursuits outside the classroom (what we dub the “Other Half”) that make boarding here such a success. When lessons finish each day, almost every boy in the school plunges into their preferred activity for an hour, but for boarders this process lasts all evening. A typical week for me might involve a concert on Monday; a lecture on Tuesday; cricket on a Wednesday; followed by chapel the next day; and football to conclude the week. Of course some might fear that this left little time for work, and that is a claim often hurled by those jealous of the fact that we are still playing sport while they are sitting on buses, queuing along the A34. But it is a suggestion rendered foolish by the boarders’ constant success in examinations and university entrance. When darkness descends, finally bringing an end to the Other Half, prep begins. At that point every boy, from age 11 to 18, devotes himself to hours of conscientious study…or so the Housemasters will tell you! It is of course true that some boys can boast as their primary talent the ability to avoid doing any work, ever; but despite the efforts of these individuals, the boarding houses are excellent environments for working. When exam leave comes around, I always opt to stay in school because I work so much better here than at home – and I am by no means alone.
"I have never visited another school that displays the kind of community spirit that I enjoy here"
But of course all this would be merely circumstantial if the company was not pleasant. Everyone has characters from their school-days whom they despised, but if you happen to be living with this individual 24-7 it is a rather different matter. I have always found that there is such a variety of people boarding at Abingdon that I can invariably associate with someone affable. If I really tire of the South African who shares my room, as well as the German, Russian and Maldivian across the corridor, I am forced down a flight of stairs to seek the company of an American, a Cossack and a native of Hong Kong. This variety does not only make for a wide range of international liquors and exciting holiday invitations, it also offers varied conversation and a plethora of insights on any issue. It is certainly an invigorating experience to be revising for an exam on the Napoleonic Wars, when a proud Muscovite enters and declares that your entire education on the subject is false. As difficult as it is to counter this claim, you are rather gladder of his company when trying to perfect your pronunciation ahead of a Russian oral.
The staff too play an important role in the boarding environment. As I approach the end of my 7 years, I am inclined to look back with some nostalgia on the ways that the staff have shaped my life. The same people who once seemed to be pressing my nose to the grindstone with unrelenting determination are now offering me a glass of port in their flat to congratulate me on the success that their earlier efforts have yielded. Sometimes funny; sometimes serious; thoroughly attentive; occasionally angry for sure, although (almost) always with good reason; the staff are in many ways what glue the variety of characters in a boarding house together. Of course it takes a certain skill to make a German and a Russian peaceably share a bedroom, not to mention bringing up a family and doing their teaching at the same time.
Many other schools offer boarding; most of them in fact can boast a larger community than we have at Abingdon. Some too will offer the wide range of activities that Abingdon enjoys; a small few can even claim better academic standards; but I have never visited another school that displays the kind of community spirit that I enjoy here. At a recent school debate – the debating society incidentally has been chaired by a boarder for 3 years in a row now – a motion to eliminate boarders from the school was resoundingly defeated. I was touched that we received such supportive comments from many day boys, but for me the greatest joy was how boarders came in droves to declare what Abingdon meant to them. A school is an important formative influence on anyone’s life as an educational institution and as a social hub, but for me it has an even more important role – it is my home. The greatest testament to boarding at Abingdon is that I, and many others, proudly and gladly embrace the school as home.
Chris Lillycrop
This article first appeared in the Oxford Times of 16 June 2006.