By Alicia Langley Caldentey
Primrose is a 13-year-old student who has been at Regents for 3 years. She is both Thai and American and has lived and gone to school in both countries. Her favourite subjects are English and Growing Minds because she loves her teachers in these lessons.
In this casual interview I had with her a few weeks back, she describes to me her experience here at Regents, telling me about the differences with her previous school, her life in boarding and the lessons she has learnt along the way.
INTERVIEW
Q: To start us off, give me three words to describe boarding at Regents.
Primrose: Unforgettable, fun and cool.
Q: What would you say are the biggest differences between boarding and being a day student?
A: You get to live with your friends! You can do activities with them that you wouldn’t have the opportunity to do as a day student; you’re away from your parents which gives you a lesson in independence and the teachers that work in boarding are cool too.
Q: What are the differences between your previous school experience and the one in Regents?
A: This school is much bigger than my previous school, it has more facilities, after-school activities and trips. I also really like the different celebrations that we didn’t get to do in my old school, such as International Day, as it was a Thai school in America.
Q: What are the benefits of boarding? Do you think anyone could benefit from it? In what way?
A: It teaches independence, living without your parents yet still having a good time is such a cool way to learn what it’s like to be responsible for yourself; it teaches you not to take opportunities for granted.
Yes, I think everyone could benefit from boarding in some way because it gives you a new perspective on school life.
Q: What activities do you do after-school?
A: Fortunately, I can access the Sports Hall after school because the boarding staff open this area up for students to do whatever sport they are putting on. I tend to do basketball, volleyball and futsal. I also like my Minecraft and Art Club CCA as well as playing FIFA in the boarding house with my friends and boarding family.
Q: How would you describe your relationship with the other boarders?
A: It’s interesting as boarding grants you the opportunity to learn how to live with others, so it has its ups and downs, of course. However, a lot of the time it allows you to get really close to someone who you wouldn’t normally be friends with. It also ups your language skills because of the diversity in the house.
Q: What is your relationship like with the boarding staff?
A: It’s really good! I can rely on them if I need help- it’s like having older sisters.
Q: What do you do on weekends?
A: In boarding, we are lucky enough to have weekend trips! On Fridays, we go to shopping malls in Pattaya and on Saturdays we go on trips to places like the Horseshoe Point, the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, the beach, the Kaan Show, Harbour Land… the list is endless.
Q: What have been your favourite weekend trips?
A: I really like it when we go bowling, wakeboarding and ice-skating. Two trips that stand out, however, are the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary and the Pattaya Orphanage- the children were so adorable!
Q: Tell me about one of your favourite memories in boarding.
A: Watching movies with the gappies, boarding friends and baking brownies are some of the best moments I’ve had in boarding.
Q: What is your funniest memory?
A: I have so many! Probably teaching gappies Thai, my friends being able to come over to see me after school and pranking them.
Q: What’s your favourite part about boarding?
A: My favourite part about boarding is being able to live with friends as if we were family, feeling like a community.
Q: Would you recommend Regents Boarding to a friend?
A: Yes, I am always recommending it to people back home because they would benefit from it in a positive way as well as being able to see me!
