Mel attended a big public school and ended up anxious and feeling more like a number instead of the individual she is. She decided to attend Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School as a day student and even she is surprised by the long list of accomplishments in her first year.
Watch Mel's Story:
“I was at a big high school, I started getting anxious, and then things sort of snowballed,” says Mel. After trying public school, an all-girls school, then homeschool, Mel enrolled as a day student at CH-CH in Waltham. Within her first year, she was the lead in the school musical, was a member of a championship softball team, earned a spot on the high honor roll, and a few weeks ago she attended the prom with her tight-knit group of friends. “If I were to go back a year ago and tell myself about the things that I’ve accomplished this year, I don’t think I would have believed it,” says Mel. “I took a leap coming to CH-CH, and I’m really glad that I did, because it is genuinely the best fit for me. And I’m just really happy here.”
Transcribed from Mel's Video:
Before coming here, school was really stressful for me. I'm Mel, I'm from Dorchester, and I'm a sophomore. I was at a big high school, and I started to get really anxious about classes, starting with just a few classes, and then it sort of snowballed. Then, I hopped around a few schools, because I thought maybe it just had to do with that specific school, but it really didn't; it just continued. I worked with a friend of my mom's coworker and she introduced us to Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall and she said, “I think this is going to be a really good fit for Mel.” I started sophomore year, I was really nervous the first day, I didn't know anyone, but I did soccer in the fall, and I'm really glad that I did. I made a bunch of friends, we've stuck being friends, and we've created this friend group for the entire year, and I am really glad that we're all together.
If I were to go back and tell myself about all the things that I've accomplished this year, I don't think I would have believed it. I probably would have thought that it was a different Mel and that it was not me, because I didn't think that I could do any of those things. I've gotten high honors for the majority of the trimesters, I was the lead in the winter musical, and I played softball, and we won the whole IGC championship. I've gone to dances, I went to prom, I've hung out with my friends, and just the fact that I can say that out loud and looking back on this year, and I've gotten all of that from just 180 days out of school, which seems like nothing; is pretty awesome.
I took a leap, and I came here, and I'm really glad that I did, because I think it's genuinely the best fit for me, and I'm really happy here.
