Students who have been placed by the Computer School Selection Placement System (CSSPS) will start going to school soon.
While some will be day students others will be in a boarding facility.
The Senior High School is not the same as the Junoir High School where these students are coming from.
The boarding house now becomes your home for a greater part of the year.
If you are new to such an environment you must learn to adjust and get used to the system.
Below are some tips to help you adjust in the boarding house.
• Find yourself a school mother or father
This person must be a trusted senior. He or she must be there to guide you through the school’s system. The senior must be one who helps you in your studies as well as covers up for you when necessary.
Not everyone has the opportunity of choosing their ‘school parent’, sometimes the ‘school parents’ choose their ‘school children’.
If you do not have a good ‘school parent’ do not worry. Just look out for a senior who is often nice to you and go to him or her when needed.
• Learn to share
Your parents will advise you to eat only what they give you and the meals served in the dining hall.
Trust me you can do it for a while but it will not make it survival easy for you.
Learn to share, not just your food but anything you can share with your fellow students.
You may also be in need sometime and you will go back to them for help.
• Think on your feet (learn to lie)
I agree you are a staunch believer in any religion you practice. I know every religion and even the Ghanaian culture does not encourage lying.
But if you don’t learn to lie, you are likely to have a miserable first-year.
Learn to lie about the things you have in your chop box else the seniors will enjoy them all.
You would have to come up with a quick excuse when the seniors want to send you on errands, else you will not have enough rest periods.
In the boarding house, you have to think smart in order not to be bullied.
• Be tolerant
You are all coming from different homes. As the Achimota School anthem reads ‘from Gambaga to Accra.’
This means you have been raised to see things differently and also do things in varied forms.
You need to tolerate your dorm mate’s lifestyle just as he or she must learn to accommodate you.
This is the only way you can live happily with each other.
• Excel in an extra-curriculum activity
Your parents will tell you they need you to excel in your education. Yes! You need to study to excel.
However, life is not all about the books. Get involved in an extra-curriculum club, enjoy the association and learn from there what you may not be taught in the classroom.
Some recommended clubs include; school cadet, Junior Achievers Club, Writers and Debaters Club, American Field Service (AFS) amongst others.
• Or be intelligent
If you are not willing to be involved in any extra-curriculum activity, be very intelligent.
At least the seniors will minimise the rate at which they send you with the excuse that ‘you are studying for the school.’
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