For Alice, coming from a public school in rural Minnesota with 1,000 kids in her grade and 50 kids in her English class, life at Dana Hall was a pleasant kind of shock.

To start with, she says, "Now my biggest class has 16 students, and I feel a real connection to my teachers. They know your character, and they care about you. If you have a question, they're always there for Conference time after school."

In return, as Alice has discovered, Dana teachers expect a lot from their students: "I get about three to four hours of homework a day," she says. "I try to get as much done as I can in Study Hall, which is from 7:00 to 9:00 at night in the library for sophomores." Afterward, Alice and her friends typically go to the Ship (the Shipley Athletic and Fitness Center) to play basketball or watch TV. "After study hall, when you're starving," says Alice, "the vending machines there are awfully nice!"

Having come from a school where she never had homework, Alice really enjoys the academic challenge of Dana Hall. In fact, one of her toughest classes is a history elective, ‘East Asian Studies,' which she chose because she has "always been very interested in the North Korean situation."

A home a long way from home

Dorm life also came easily, even though she was 1,000 miles from home. "I love everything about my dorm, except sometimes the noise level," she says with a smile. "It's like living with your best friends." She also feels close to her "dorm parent." These adults live in the dormitory and offer a warm family atmosphere, a friendly ear and plenty of well-timed snacks. While Alice's dorm is mostly sophomores, "we've also got a senior and four juniors - so if you've got a homework question, you just go across the hall to someone who's had the class before."

Like all sophomores, Alice is back in her room by 10, with lights out by 11, unless she has a special reason to ask for an additional half-hour of "late lights."

If you're thinking about boarding at Dana, she offers this crucial advice: "I wish I had brought more than two sets of sheets, so I wouldn't have to wash them so often!"

The unexpected pleasure of traditions

Perhaps the best surprise of Dana life has been the simple thrill of school traditions. So far, Alice's favorite is the irreverent bonding ritual known as Senior/Sophomore. Early in the year, every senior is secretly assigned to a sophomore. Then, over a few days in October, the seniors surprise the younger girls with all kinds of fun. For instance, one night the seniors decorate the sophomores' rooms with candy. (So much candy, warns Alice, that "it lasts for months - it's in your underwear drawer, your coat pockets, your pencil case!  And there are streamers and balloons, and posters.") The next morning, the seniors put together outrageous costumes that their chosen sophomores have to wear around campus all day. Alice and two other sophomores were dressed up as a set of Barbies -- Malibu, Ball Gown and Ballet - complete with blonde wigs and high heels. Finally, that night, each sophomore finds out who her senior - her "Snitzel" - really is.

On the move

Given the huge number of new experiences Alice has plunged into in her time at Dana, you might think she'd feel homesick. But as Alice puts it, "I haven't really hit a wall yet!" She talks to her parents once a day, and she keeps herself wonderfully busy, with class work, dorm life, her membership in AGAPE (Dana's Christian fellowship group), and a three-season roster of soccer, squash and tennis. In squash, she already plays on the junior varsity - not bad for a girl who had never held a squash racquet before she got to Dana Hall.

And if she ever wants to get away from it all? She might go up to the Library Tower and curl up in the cushions, or sit by the little pond near the Ship and watch the geese. She also loves the indoor track, which circles the gym from above so you can watch the action below. "Even if I'm not running," says Alice, "I usually pretend I'm going to."