by Maggie Fraley

Coming from a middle to lower classed family, in a small town in North Eastern Pa, wealth and diversity are not things I was exposed to daily. By the time I had reached my Junior year in high school, I was offered a full scholarship to an elite boarding school, where I would go to continue my education and equestrian endeavors. Tucked away amongst the heart of the Appalachian Mountains in small town of Birmingham Pennsylvania, lies the Grier School. Grier is an all girls liberal arts boarding school. Founded in 1853, its school symbol is a green and white shield with a pine tree. They go by the motto, Sana Mens In Corpore Sana, translation to “Sound Mind in a Sound Body.” The school currently enrolls students from seventh to twelfth grade. With a close knit 315 students from 30 states and 16 foreign countries, diversity fills the campus.(source) The annual tuition is about $51,700. Grier has an extremely competitive college preparatory academic program, teaching 21 AP classes in all of the core disciplines.(Grier.org/history) Academics are impressive at Grier, but the athletics and arts are a main attraction. The school offers competitive equestrian, pre-professional dancing, video editing and engineering classes, high level art and design, and an impeccable music program. When I got to Grier, I wasn’t prepared for the ways in which culture, class, and wealth would be demonstrated. In fact, such demonstrations of wealth are an unspoken, integral part of the Grier experience, and despite students’ many differences, they come together as Grier women.

As far as housing, Grier students live in dormitories in the main complex of buildings along with dormitories that are called “Cottages.” These are victorian like houses and newly remodeled houses designed to match the authenticity of the school. In most living scenarios, two girls share one bedroom and a bathroom with the next two students down the hall. Each hall and cottage is supervised by a pair of housemothers on shifts. These are mature women who have raised families.  As the girls live with much freedom, the housemothers take care of all the girls like their own mothers would. The school kitchen staff provides home cooked food every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. These meals can even be recipies students share from their family traditions. School counselors help any student to adjust to this new type of school life. The college counselor also works with all students at all age levels as they prepare for college. Along with counseling, medical care is also offered. There is a Health Center on campus, staffed with registered nurses.

The socioeconomic dynamics of Grier are completely different then a co-ed school, or even other boarding schools. If you are familiar with the Netflix original, Orange is the New Black, you already have a head start in understanding the all girls atmosphere and personalities. As a pair of fresh eyes in this school, there was one big similarity I found amongst the students. Although there are many different cultures, they all share one thing in common. These girls have money, and lots of it. In a school placed in the middle of the forest in a small town, the culture and behaviors the girls are used to are non existent. At Grier, everyone is on a clean slate, given the chance to create their own culture. As I sit back and observe the groups they form, I notice that they separate by ethnicity. They don’t do this on purpose or to be racist, they purely drift to the social parties that feel most comfortable and normal to them. Different from a public school, at Grier, referring to each other as Mexicans, Asians, and Americans is also not racist; it is just how they decipher their groups. As many people stereotype an all girls school as a place for class and poise, it is more like The Night at the Museum. When need be they are still and proper, but otherwise there is a lot of organized chaos.Now don’t get me wrong, these girls are classy and composed when need be. However, when sent to Grier with the power to create their own culture, things become interesting.

The madness begins in the cafeteria. At Grier there are two stairways leading to the cafeteria doors. These doors are closed until the cafeteria is open. So, five minutes before a meal, mobs of girls prepare to charge through the doors to get food. Once the doors finally open the girls charge as if the Hunger Games just started. Since there are tons of different ethnic groups, everyone has different motives. The Asian girls all charge to the buffet with rice, tofu, and soy sauce, then dash to grab their salads. The rush for them isn’t over yet, they then have to run to one of the two microwaves. Grier serves hot food, but not hot salads. In Asia, according to the students, it is normal to microwave your salad before you eat it. As the Asian girls sort through the microwaved salad chaos, the Hispanic girls rush to grab every bottle of tabasco, sriracha, and any kind of spice they can find, since American- Mexican food will never be the same as  Mexican-Mexican food. The African and Island girls are typically content with whatever is being served, so the rush for them is straight to the main food line. Then we have the Americans, all the Americans care about is the ice cream bar. Even though everyone has their own cafeteria goals, confusion runs rampid across the small cafeteria. Communication would help in this busy atmosphere, but when girls are screaming in chinese, japanese, spanish, english, and occasionally russian, things can get chaotic. Instead of speech, Grier girls use sophisticated body language to communicate. For example, throwing elbows equivalates to, “Excuse me may I please have the spoon for the mashed potatoes?” Classy right? Or when you are waiting in line for the ice cream and people walk right in front of you to get there ice cream, that typically means, “You don’t need ice cream anyways and I definitely need it more than you.” Although these little quirks at Grier sound rude and improper, when the time comes to have manners and be polite, these girls can turn it on. Looking from an outside perspective, the little quirks like the ones in the cafeteria is part of the Grier culture created by the girls.

Living habits are definitely different amongst the students as well. Walking into an American girls dorm for the first time usually looks straight out of pinterest, with the twinkle lights and little polaroids attached to them. But the second time you walk in, it’s a complete mess with clothes littering the entire floor. This is a completely different scene then one of an Asian girls room. Entering one of their rooms is like entering 95 year old hoarders room. I say this with utmost respect, these girls love their trinkets and hate throwing things away. At first glance it could seem like a mess, but to them it is homey. Finally, the Mexican girls rooms look very similar to a college frat boy’s room. They typically have their flag hanging somewhere on the walls and the rest is straight mess. These hispanic party girls always have music blaring and love to force you to try Mexican candy that tastes like sour sriracha powder on a lollipop. The way each girl chooses to decorate their room can tell you a lot about them and their culture. Stepping into the different rooms feels like temporarily traveling to their country.

The personality stereotypes are all very different as well. The American girls typically only care about traveling to Penn State to find boys to hang out with or going to dances at the brother school, Kiski. As the American girls like to stick to boys and drama, the Mexican girls stick to partying. Not any partying, Mexico City partying. These girls don’t mess around and know how to party from a young age. It’s important to know that in Mexico they start partying in clubs as soon as they turn thirteen. They don’t just listen to spanish club music, they also swear by the High School Musical soundtracks and any pop songs that were popular in the states in the early 2000’s. As the American girls are trying to keep up with the Mexicans who are partying like rockstars, the Asians are living a completely different life style. The girls from Mexico typically stay at Grier for only one year to have the experience of coming to an american school and have a good time. Unlike them, the Asian girls typically stay all of their high school years to achieve impeccable academic excellence. They are most likely studying for their AP classes, playing piano until their fingers bleed, or eating an entire rotisserie chicken while listening to K-Pop. The African girls feel like all of these things are completely overrated and just have dance parties within their close knit but welcoming group, in the main building. Although everyone has their own ways of having a good time, at the end of the day they all respect each others choices and include anyone who’s trying to find their place.

Finally,  clothing choices differ between the groups. One day you’ll be walking around wondering if you missed the “dress up like your favorite Harry Potter house” memo and the next day everyone is in their pjs shuffling down the halls in Gucci slippers. The Asian students love their fashion, they are the ones to credit for the Harry Potter outfits and the Gucci slippers. If you are familiar with female anime characters, that is the look many try to capture. The next extreme is definitely a downgrade from the asian fashionistas. The style most American girls accomplish daily usually entails sweatpants, sweatshirts, the lovely shoe choice of crocs (preferably yellow) all tied together with a blanket draped over their back and one earbud in their ear. The African girls have two styles, one being adidas sweat suits with matching sneakers and bangle bracelets or the authentic dresses from their country. Finally the Mexican girls, they love their sweatshirts or belly shirts, leggings, and adidas sneakers. The other style groups are athletically differentiated. The riders always dressed in riding pants with black tall socks and a long sleeve sun shirt and a vest. Then there are the dancers who alway had on spandex or leggings and stylish cut offs or dance leotards. The most important takeaway from all of these styles is that everyone feels comfortable being who they are and express it daily.

The Grier School for girls is a place of diversity, classy chaos, and acceptance. No matter how many different customs and traditions are scattered throughout campus, everyone is united through a tight sisterhood. Whether you are walking next to the daughter of the creator of Fortnightor the daughter of a manager of a middle eastern oil company, the wealth is unspoken and otherwise unknown at first. These girls are a family of any class, race, or culture.  Being isolated in an environment with minimal judgement and different cultures,  academic, social, and athletic success is achieved with flying colors.

 

 

Works Cited

“History.” Grier School | History, www.grier.org/page/about-us/history.