A Day In The Life Of A Former Boarding School Student

I’ve been reminiscing alot about the years I spent as a boarding student back in secondary school and I think it’s because of the pandemic and with lots of free time to think. I love reading day in the life posts and watching videos as well but since I don’t have any structured routine for how I spend my days currently, I thought writing what a usual day in my former boarding school used to be like and for anyone who’s been curious to see what life in boarding school is like. I graduated in 2016 but it’d always feel like it was just yesterday because these memories are still very fresh to me.

I’d like to say my experiences in boarding school were fun and worthwhile, even though there were so many rules and restrictions, they helped me in a way and I met very beautiful and interesting people who I’ve been friends with till this date. One of my best friends, Kosi, who I became friends with in 2010 has been a very supportive person ever since I started this blog and since I’m currently feeling emotional, I’d like to give a shout out to her. Thank you for the unconditional love and support Kosi! ❤😻

There are 7 days in a week, our routines and schedules changed around those days. We had specific routines for Mornings to Afternoons and Late evenings. It was only around 4pm we had different routines for each days. On weekends though, our schedules and routines were entirely different from the ones on weekdays.

Haha, I didn’t say what school I attended. I went to Daughters of Divine Love, Juniorate in Enugu. Hi! if you went there or currently go there. It was an all girls boarding school! I’ve stated that our schedules and routines weren’t quite the same in the evenings so I’d be doing what a day in the life used to be like for me on Tuesdays since those were my favorite days in school. We always did sports on Tuesdays and I loved all the sporting and recreational activities we engaged in. I loved to get my blood pumping and my body all sweaty and hot. Another reason I loved Sports was because our Sport Wears were the only uniform I liked. I felt free in them and they also made me feel like myself. Let’s get into the what a day in the life used to look then😁.

4:00 AM – 5:30 AM- Rising and Getting Ready For The Day.

The rising bell went off around 4:00 am signaling it’s time to wake up and get ready for the day. We took our baths and wore our uniforms around 4 AM to 5:30 AM. Whatever you wanted to do before leaving your hostels, you had to get it done before 5:30 AM because you won’t be allowed to enter the hostels after leaving unless you were a senior, worked in the dormitories or were a prefect. It’s kind of funny that I spent six years getting up by 4 AM in boarding school but can’t seem to do that now. I guess habits only stick if you like them or if they make you feel good.

5:30AM – 6:00 AM – Going To The Chapel For Morning Mass.

We had to be seated before the priest came in and celebrated the morning mass. The sisters liked us to be quiet and in the mood for prayers before mass and they figured it’d take a whole 30 minutes, I guess. Sometimes, most of us weren’t even ready before then but it didn’t matter, we had to follow the schedule.

6:00 AM – 7:00 AM – Morning Mass.

My boarding school was a Catholic Missionary school so prayers and anything else concerning the Church were very important and needed. Every mornings, after rising, we had mass unless the priest couldn’t make it, in which case, we just stayed in our dormitories until it was time for breakfast. Anyone who missed mass (if caught) was punished and I did miss mass somedays because I got up late lol. I don’t attend mass like I used to back in secondary school but I’m still very much a Catholic and try to say my prayers when I can.

7:00 AM – 7:30 AM – Breakfast.

Welp, breakfast lasted 30 minutes. Which is cool because I ate very fast and barely swallowed my food. Just like we had specific routines for each day, we had specific food time tables for each day as well. I know I said my memory is still fresh but the school authorities were always changing the food time table so I’m not quite certain what we ate in the mornings on Tuesday but I remember it being okpa, my last days there and it was one of my favorite breakfasts.

7:30 AM – 8:00 AM – Morning Functions.

Kinda ironic we went to work after eating, don’t you think? So, after breakfast, every student who wasn’t a prefect, a senior or who didn’t have a senior friend was required to go do whatever functions they were assigned to at the beginning of a new term. The functions vary as you go into a new school year session. For me, in JS1, I used to sweep a little portion near our chapel. JS2, I used to wash the bathrooms. In JS3, I was a table head and so worked in the refectory, it just kept changing. My favorite one would be working in the refectory because I had people who shared the same ref with me and we did it turn by turn. So to say, I didn’t have functions to do on some mornings and I’d just spend that free time with a friend or sneak into the dormitory or just go ahead to class.

8:00 AM – 8:25 AM – Assembly.

On some days, assemblies were short and could finish before 8:25 AM. On other days, they could be long and we’d stay past 8:25 AM. Assemblies were an okay part of the day for me back then. It was the only time I got to hang out with some of my friends (from other classes) who I wouldn’t usually hang out with. That was mostly the good part about it for me. I didn’t like all the standing and the sun plus a bird once pooped on my head.

8-25 AM – 11:30PM – Classes.

After the assembly, the classes for the day starts and we’d spend all that time, learning, writing stuff in our notes or taking tests and exams. On periods when we didn’t have any classes because the teacher couldn’t make it , we’d spend it talking to one another or just doing stuffs we couldn’t do earlier. For me, I’d either read a novel, be drawing or completing or reading a note.

11:30PM – 12:00PM – Tea break.

Haha, everyone in my class knew that this was my favourite part of the day, any week. Tea breaks were also my favourite meal time. It was the only time we’d usually have anything with sugar in it so I didn’t like to miss it. During tea breaks, we’d have tea and biscuits. On some days though, the biscuits would be replaced with buns or popcorn, chin chin or bread and any other snack the sisters thought we’d like.

12:00PM – 2:00PM – The Angelus and Class Continuation.

Around 12:00PM, a prefect would ring the bell and no matter where you are, you have to stop what you’re doing and bow your head, even if you were just about entering your class. The Angelus was/is a prayer usually recited in the Catholic Church as a devotion for the Incarnation. After the Angelus, you may continue doing what you were doing, which was getting back to class or settling down.

2:00PM – 2:25PM – Afternoon Prayers.

We always gathered around at the assembly ground to say our afternoon prayers after classes and get any news or announcements from the sisters or prefects. And around these times, the sun was always hotter than it was in the morning. I’d usually be very tired from all the classes we just had so it wasn’t a very favourite time in school for me.

2:25 PM – 3:00PM – Lunch.

Lunch was the same every day. We ate eba for lunch, every afternoons. The soups were different for other days though but I can’t remember what soup we had on Tuesdays but my favourite was okra and we took them every Saturdays. Kosi didn’t like okra so she’d give me hers, sometimes. Or trade it for something else.

3:00PM – 4:00PM – Siesta.

Siestas were compulsory, that was fine by me. Hehe. I loved loved the silence that came with, you could even hear a pin drop and it was late in the afternoon. How cool was that? Anybody who was caught not sleeping during the siesta was punished. Some days, I’d want to do something so bad after classes but since I couldn’t risk being caught during siesta, I’d skip lunch to go do it.

4:00PM – 6:00PM – Sport Activities.

Sportssss! Like I mentioned earlier, we had sports on Tuesdays and it was my favourite time in all of our schedules. Besides hanging out with my friends and catching up on stuff, we could use that time to do anything else but I chose to spend it in the field, running or playing volleyball or playing old games with my housemates or classmates. There’s just something about getting high on adrenaline back then. I guess I had alot of energy and didn’t know what to do with it. I want that old me back.

6:00PM – 7:00PM – Rosary.

Like I mentioned. Prayers were important. Every evenings, by 6 PM, we’d gather in front of the grotto that had a Statue of Mary (it was really beautiful) or anywhere else that could contain every student or in the hall ways of the school to say the rosary. You’d hardly hear any noise during this time except for our voices reciting the Hail Mary and other prayers.

7:00 PM – 7:30PM – Dinner.

On Tuesday evenings, we had um, jollof rice and beans? for dinner. I’m not quite sure, haha. But I can remember that we had beans and pap on Wednesdays, Moi moi on Fridays, Rice and Stew on Sundays and Spaghetti on Saturdays so I can’t really recall what we had on Tuesdays and Monday evenings but it’d be jollof rice and beans or jollof rice.

7:30PM – 9:30 PM – Night Prep.

After dinner, every other day, everyone was supposed to go to their classrooms and catch up on their school work or just read because well, what else did you come to school for? Night preps were noisy sometimes, other days they were quiet. It all depended on who was on night duty that night. Night preps were fun for me, besides the impromptu classes we had some nights, I spent that time with my friends from other classes or just chatting with any of my classmates or catching up on school work like I was supposed to. I also spent it sleeping because yes, I love to sleep.

9:30 PM – 10:00PM – Night Prayers.

Yet another time in the day we spent praying. After the night prep, we’d gather on assembly ground again and say our night prayers. The prefect, sisters or any senior would give us any news update or announcement and bid us goodnight.

10:00 PM -10:30 PM – Night Tea Break.

Tea breaks would forever be my favorite meal time in that school. I loved that it came up twice during a day. How sweet and thoughtful of the sisters. Night tea breaks were not so different from the afternoon ones. We had tea and biscuits during that time along with anything else, that is, if you saved your breakfast or snuck in a snack.

10:30PM – 4:00AM – Lights Out/Bed Time

Nobody had to tell you that you had to spare some time drinking tea and hurry to the dormitory to get ready for bed. I can’t remember if there was any specific amount of time allocated to getting ready for bed because I was always usually running to my dorm when the prefects started looking for scapegoats. Most nights, I slept in, in my uniform because I didn’t want to get caught, being up, when it was time for bed. Well, all that stopped when I became a senior so going to bed early and sleeping in, in my uniforms wasn’t any problem later on. When I became a senior, the lights out time were one of my favourite times in school. I used that time to do stuff I couldn’t do in the day, like wash my clothes or eat a snack I snuck in or read a novel I’d borrowed from someone sleeping. I also used that time to go visit my friends in other dorms.

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Writing this post felt like being back in DDL again. I didn’t realize I had so much memories from the school, until this post. I had a journal I used to write in, back then but I left all my stuff back in uni because I thought we’d be back soon. I’d have loved to share some stories with you guys. This post may look like we had the time of our lives back then, I suppose we did but there were also times when we wished all the sisters and their rules and regulations never existed. Still, I wouldn’t mind relieving my experiences in the school, I guess. I think my favourite part about being a former boarding student is that I get to relate with all the dark academia and boarding school aesthetics I love so much. I think I’d have to start creating mood boards for them too.

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Did you ever attend a boarding school? What was it like for you? Did you enjoy your stay there? Would you love to relieve your experiences? If you didn’t attend a boarding school and you were presented with an opportunity to, would you take it? I sure would. Before going to DDL, I already knew I wanted to go to a boarding school. My mum was always nagging and I hated doing chores so as a Nigerian child, boarding school was sort of my only escape! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Also, if you have any questions about anything, I’d love to answer them.

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Thank you for reading.

Stay Safe.