A journey begins with one step

Making the decision to switch schools half-way through high school is almost never an easy one, but for Mia Bevilacqua, it was the right one.

My mom had mentioned a change of scenery—switching schools. I was not up for it at the time because I thought this was just a stage I’d go through and it’d be done in a few weeks or months. The thought lingered on my mind for a week or two when one day I was sitting in my room doing pre-calc homework that I didn’t know how to do. I put the homework down and pulled out my journal. I wrote a list of pros and cons of switching schools. The pros outweighed the cons by a landslide. I told my mom it was time to start looking somewhere else.

My mom and I worked together to find as many schools as possible to tour. We had no idea what we wanted, so the more the better. My mom strongly encouraged Dock, whereas I was not as excited about the school. Unfortunately, all of the other schools I either did not like or were way out of our price range. So I visited Dock.

I fell in love before I even stepped out of the car. I saw the wide open campus with the beautiful pond and Detweiler House and I thought it would be amazing to be able to walk outside from class to class. I decided to shadow for a day with Megan Swintosky, who now is one of my best friends. Entering the school on my shadow day I was nervous and excited at the same time. I tried to lay low as best I could and just watch. I soon realized everyone here was just like me. I walked from class to class and saw that teachers actually taught their classes and students actually paid attention to what was being taught. Not only that, but the style of teaching was so different—hands-on and interactive instead of writing down what’s on the board in front of you.

By far, my two favorite things that day were seeing the art building, and being free walking around the campus. The open campus was amazing. It was so much better than being stuck inside all day not being able to breathe fresh air. The art building is open and free for anyone to enter. I realized I could play soccer and create the art I was always interested in, and be completely devoted to both. I was absolutely intrigued. I was sold. I made my decision to join the Dock Class of 2017.