Although the vast majority of students at Pingree have been enrolled since their freshman year, Pingree takes in a sufficient number of transfer students up until junior year. Kids can also repeat junior year upon transferring.
As a transfer student myself, I wanted to see how my peers felt about their decisions to transfer and what they have noticed in their time here. What is the biggest difference between Pingree and their old school? How have transfer students acclimated to Pingree? Is there a competitive culture at Pingree? Have their goals changed because of their transfer to Pingree?
Junior Cole Piaseczynski (Triton/repeat) and senior Ray Cuevas (Ipswich/repeat Jr. year) both feel that the biggest difference between Pingree and their old school was that Pingree has much more school spirit. I couldn’t agree more with these claims. School spirit is a real thing here; pep rallies, highlighted games, all-school activities, and it doesn’t hurt that the sports teams are all successful programs.
Junior Ariana Schwinn-Clanton (Andover) and junior Graham Buttersworth (Masco) think that the workload here is much more intense than their old schools and the teachers have higher expectations. They are not wrong. Yet, I find that the way the classes are run will help in the transition to college and the teachers are typically available to help with whatever you need so it is really not the worst thing.
As far as a transition into a new school is concerned, everyone I have interviewed says that the rest of the student body here is extremely accepting and they had no problems finding their friends. Cole, Ray, Ariana, and Graham all felt that being on sports teams helped them a lot with making friends when they first came to Pingree.
And while switching schools may be daunting and uncomfortable for some, the fact that Pingree students must play a sport/do an activity all three seasons encourages transfer students to make connections with fellow students. And in my personal experience, being on the football team was wildly helpful in my transition into Pingree.
All of the interviewees appreciated the motivating and competitive culture present at Pingree. Ray Cuevas notes, “It helps being around like-minded people that push each other to reach their goals.”
The difference between Pingree and our old schools is night and day. This newfound energy at Pingree also gives way to new aspirations and goals for many transfer students. Cole Piaseczynski says; “[it] pushed me to reach for new heights as far as recruitment goes; repeating helped me a lot with that.”
Being surrounded by a culture grounded in hard work has had a tremendous impact on the students and it carries into different aspects of their lives, whether that be academics, sports, arts, or passions.
