Prep Schools

There are many different reasons for a high school kid to go to a so-called "prep school." They might have various problems socially, academically, etc. All of these reasons are completely acceptable and understandable. However, recently I lost a close friend as he left for prep school to repeat his junior year. He injured himself over a year ago which prevented him from doing what he really loves--playing sports--and then decided that going away to school was in his best interest so he could make up for the year of sports that he had missed.

Let me give you a little background. This kid had roughly a 3.8 grade point average, a genuine group of friends that he spent time with daily, a close female friend, and a loving and together family. With all of this, why do you go away to school, missing what is supposedly one of the best years of your life--senior year in high school? The answer is still beyond me.

I confronted him with this question over the summer while we played knockout before dinner at another friend's house. He had no response. After I let him ponder the question for a few minutes, he finally answered. He said he didn't know. He said that he didn't even know if he wanted to play sports at the collegiate level. I was confused and angry. He had been telling me for three months that he was doing this solely to excel in his sports and now he didn't know if he wanted to anymore. You may think that I was being selfish, but it isn't easy to just give up a friend like this, having known each other since the third grade.

He's been gone for about a week now and things really are different. He doesn't return home until Thanksgiving week, about two and a half months from now. This isn't supposed to be a "Dear, Annie" entry or anything. I just felt the need to write down my thoughts that have been bugging me for months now.

Please feel free to respond if you have suggestions on 1) coping with this problem 2) getting my friend kicked out of the school so he has to come back or 3) just somehow smacking him across the face a few times.

Thank you for your time,

John

P.S. I am not trying to put down prep schools in any way in this post.