"Self-discovery, generosity of heart, skills of mind."- Thursday May 15th

So this morning was definitely my favorite interview. When i first woke up I can't lie what I really wanted to do was crawl back into bed. Yet the moment i arrived at the Field school, I was wide awake. First off the school is literally drop dead gorgeous. A huge white mansion with winding outdoor staircases, it looks more like a spanish villa on the Mediterranean than a small private school in Washington DC. Upon entering the cozy and colorful admissions office, I chatted with a woman whose son went to Episcopal, so we bonded because I spent three hours bopping around there yesterday. Then I met Will Layman, the director of admissions.

When i first got to DC, I thought GDS would be my favorite school by far, seeing as how I almost left Proctor to come to GDS, yet today changed my mind. I found myself letting my guard down without even realizing it, and talking completely honestly with Will. My favorite thing about Field was the fact that every single kid has to take some form of art every single day. This means that Field is one of those rare schools where cliques really don't exist because as Will said, "everyone's a artist and everyone's a jock." When I asked who was popular, what type of kid, Will responded " well there's the kid who goes up at open mic and everyone's like go for it man!" but also "our valedictorian who went to Harvard, was a vegan, and ate lunch alone under a tree every day."

I have been impressed by all of the schools so far, but Field was the first school to wow me, When Will told me about Fields mission statement, I was literally blown away. Most schools missions statements are lengthy, similar  and quite frankly boring. So last year when Field had to come up with a new mission statement, the admissions crew sat down with thirty different mission statements from all these different schools, yet removed the name of schools and tried to match them all up, yet "there was no difference between say St. Albans, some military school, and that school  in Hippie town California." 

Fields mission statement is small enough to fit on three buttons, " Self Discovery" "Generosity of heart" and "Skills of mind" I mean truly what more can you say?

I even got to keep some buttons, and one of them was tye dye, When i remarked that Field was the ONLY school to give me buttons, Will responded, "stick around a bit longer and we'll give you a tee shirt."

This attitude is what makes field so different from any other private schools in the city, even GDS. Field has a totally open, funky and fun environment that makes you want to hang around and watch the kids in action in their different classes. Field is the kind of school that doesn't produce AP students who go off to Ivy leagues spouting off dates and numbers, instead they produce smart, quirky individuals who are farther on the path to self-discovery than most fifty year olds.

After today, I am truly not sure where I would want to go to school If i had to do high school all over again ( which as much fun as it was, I don't think I could) In one morning Field impressed me so much that after four years of thinking I would have gone to GDS, I now could say easily I would have been a happy camper at either school.

Tomorrow I'm off to Maret- until tomorrow..

Peace+Love

Abbie