I took hundreds of pictures of Howe Military School this past Alumni Weekend. I’m still not finished. Though Alumni Weekend is over, I will be in town until Monday night so I still have some time for the summer camp and some other miscellaneous places. One of the places highest on my priority list was Alpha Company – home of the female cadets. Not because it was girls’ barracks but because it used to be Delta Company and I wanted to see my old room(s).
Mrs. Trout, wife of Colonel Trout, is the T.O. of Alpha Company and guided a few alumni through Delta/Alpha on a bit of a tour. This guided tour, though courteous, was excrutiatingly slow – I just wanted pictures of my old room! At about the middle of the second floor, we came across a young lady introduced to us by Mrs. Trout. Currently a sophomore, she’s attended since fifth grade. One of the other alumni asked her what she thought of the school after all that time. Personally, I couldn’t care less because all I wanted was pictures of my old room.
The young lady’s answer was simple and touching, however. “It’s home,” she said. I didn’t think this was too uncommon, after all cadets lived here several months out of the year but, with some more prodding from this other alumnus, she revealed she didn’t think of her parents’ house as her home and preferred life at Howe.
She must be doing well – she’s been there for five years – and I hope she’ll finish her high school there. Of course I thought of myself not really looking forward to Open Weekends and, of course, I thought of Harry Potter dreading the thought of leaving Hogwarts for summer “vacation.”
I know why I would send my daughters to Howe, but … I wonder why other parents send theirs.
