It’s the beginning of a new school year and whilst taking the first steps back into the boarding house, any reason we used to keep ourselves calm is swept away instantly because there’s only one thing on every boarder’s mind this early in the term. The search for any familiar faces begins and then ends abruptly as a series of recognisable screams erupt from behind the unfortunate pupil. Running? Screaming? Flailing arms going in directions you never thought possible? It is the unnecessary race to get to a pupil frozen by the site of her welcoming committee. To them it seems that Animal Planet has decided to do a live show in the boarding house, but not quite, because it’s just at that moment they know they’re back at their home away from home.

As the day turns into night, everyone tries to remember what has happened to the day that is now a blur in the past. After passing corridors filled with piles of empty boxes and suitcases and finishing never ending stories about the holidays, it is time to go to bed and prepare for the term that lies ahead. One of the great things about being a border in the 6th form is the independence you are given whilst being able to have your friends around you 24/7. As always, with great privilege comes responsibility. Our responsibilities include house duties in AS which simply consists of helping the member of staff on duty to prevent the ultimate breakdown of sanity in the house. Dinner, a time used to socialise more than eat, also requires a prefect on duty to ensure the state of the dining hall is left in a manageable condition for the kitchen staff.

Of course considering our positions as the seniors of the school, responsibility seems to be something we hear about like a broken record but there are also positive aspects such as the variety of weekend activities available for boarders which ranges from cooking to basketball and much more. In the beginning of the year, we are divided by our differences, be it in cultural beliefs or the country where we come from but as we get to know each other we find there are more things uniting us than there are separating us.

When our families made the decision to place us in boarding school at Royal Russell, whether it was so that we could get a ‘taste’ of independence or because of the good education system, they probably expected us to be so used to it that we would be upset to leave pals when it came to holidays. In reality we are able to leave pals; what becomes harder to leave is the family of friends that you have created that make the boarding house