A bitter/sweet experience. The 4 yrs. of Latin and French, public speaking class, English classes ad finitum. (Though I can still recite all the prayers in French and Latin) The "Good morning sister" standup, the inspections of our uniforms, the stern nuns, some of whom had a true nasty streak. The HUGE piles of books (no bags then), tons of homework, and NO MEN!

The fun part included throwing bologna sandwiches in the nun's showers, climbing out windows, partying with guys all night, and climbing back in at dawn. (Yes, I did get caught and had to listen to French tapes for a day). One girl threw a cherry bomb into a toilet and got expelled. Of course we snuck cigarette breaks, stupidly again in the nun's showers, like they couldn't smell it! Sneaking in Beer, guys.
No, if I could do it all over would never have 8 years of all-girls, but not much of a choice at 13. Convent of the Sacred Heart had a college branch in Boston, so off I went for 4 years of more.

I used to love the movie "the Trouble with Angels". You just reminded me of that.

I survived Catholic Schools. No Convents though.

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If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame...

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I don't know much... but I know I luv you...
& that may be all I need to know!

Do these schools do anything for you spiritually?


x

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Destroyer Of Worlds

I think so. Our Religion classes were actually great. It was during the hippie era and there were a few very radical girls in my class. We expressed our opinions on the war and equal rights with great enthusiasm.

As for spirituality, I think my Catholic school upbringing, among other things, is the basis for the great spirituality I have now. Though Catholicism is RELIGION, different from spirituality, many of my beliefs actually jive with it, it's teachings.

A Catholic upbringing is unreasonably strict, but as the nuns always said, "Don't through the baby out with the bathwater".

I think I got most of the base of my spiritual mindset from the Catholic Schools I attended.

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If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame...

I wonder how many times a day those nuns rapped GG's knuckles with a ruler.

I got switched from left-handed to right so "I wouldn't be a freak"! Of course the only thing I do right-handed is WRITE, so it didn't work.

When we had "dances" with neighboring Boy's schools and someone danced too close (very close monitoring from nuns and priests), they would say, "Make room for the holy spirit". We got detention for such things as a skirt length 1/4 inch above the limit "no knees showing". If we forgot our blazer or the uniform blouse and shoes, bad news.

I will say I got a good "education" in the traditional sense.

I attended a convent girls' school for freshman and sophomore years, but it was on a day basis. In other words several of us went home while others dormed there. They were most definitely strict, yet I feel they gave me a good solid education. I also had attended 8 years of Catholic grade school. When I went to public school as a junior I breezed through the classes. Although I do not attend church, it gave me a good foundation for spirituality.

Interesting thread. I went to Catholic school for 11 years. K through 8 and then 2 years in an all-girls high school. I couldn't handle it after that. I am not Catholic (never was), and I think attending a Catholic school when you do not participate in the religion can be particularly difficult on a child.

Not bashing Catholocism, just saying that with all the Sacraments that I couldn't partake in (I was Christened not Baptised, No Holy Eucharist for me, No Confirmation, etc.), and not really agreeing or understanding the teachings compared with my own Sunday School teachings made for some frustrating times.

Also, I would agree with WB in that some of the nuns had a pretty rotten streak - I once had a nun/teacher tell the whole class that I would "see what the right religion was when I didn't get to heaven" - nice...

It's funny you say that, TB. I was not Catholic when I went to Catholic Schools either. I converted after my son was born. I did feel left out at times; but I think, in my case, it helped me to really see the deep history of the sacraments and the mass and to appreciate it.

In my day to day crazy life, now, the gentle sameness of the mass is what calms me.

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If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame...

JG, I agree. Oddly enough, I learned a lot about my religion from Catholic School. Technically I am Baptist, but they are both Christian religions and having gone to Catholic School and also grown up in the Baptist church, I can say they are very similar. In fact, that may have been part of the reason I felt so excluded sometimes - cause I knew they were so similar it was like "what's the big deal - you guys are receiving the Holy Eucharist, we are receiving Communion/Body of Christ". I wouldn't call it a bad experience (Catholic School), just felt like sometimes the "us" and "them" mentality was taken a bit far in the schools that I happened to have attended.

BUT, if I were an outsider to the Baptist Church, I might feel the same way about my own religion. It's funny how religion can make some feel included, at the same time it makes others feel excluded...

I actually attended a Baptist school for 4 years. Well, they called it a Christian School; but it was run by a Baptist Church. (I drive by it every day on my way to work.) Very similar except for the drinking, dancing, revivals, and full body baptism.

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If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame...

Oh, yeah, and we had to wear very long skirts to school.....then, I went to Catholic High School and the hemlines went up up up as I got closer to graduation!

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If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame...

LOL - JG, you are right, the further I progressed in Catholic School, the shorter our hemlines on our "kilts" got.

I don't know what you mean when you say the dancing and drinking and revivals with the Baptist Church - mine was a little less conservative so we didn't have quite as many rallies or revivals. I did do the full-body baptism though.

I think the interesting thing with the Baptist Church is that in the south and other parts of the US it can get much more intense than in the northeast (where I grew up).

Also, my bf's family is Baptist and they tend to have similar traditions as the southern Baptist. Interesting...