Some people are boarders, some people are day students, but at Williston a small portion of students have been able to experience both.

There are plenty of benefits for both day students and boarders. The Willistonian is digging deeper into the obvious question: Which is better?

Senior Rob Champigny was initially a day student but switched to boarding after his sophomore year.

Rob said, “I spent most of my time on campus as a day student, most of my friends were boarders and it was kind of hard going home and leaving all my friends behind.”

“Boarding has been better in both cases,” he added. “I am always on campus and I have all the resources I need here at Williston, whether it’s my teachers, coaches, or friends, I always know I have somebody here for me on campus.”

Living in East Longmeadow, MA, Rob had a 40 minute commute to school in the morning which was definitely not ideal, he said.

Although day students have more freedom, it seems that they feel disconnected to the Williston community.

Jack Phelan ’18 has experienced both sides of student life, and, like Rob, he prefers boarding.

“I got to see my family more and spend time with my friends from home,” Jack said. “But I didn’t feel the true sense of the Williston community.”

“As an athlete, it is nice having the athletic center and fields to use in my free time and having my room with my athletic stuff makes it easier to go from school to sports,” he added.

Associate Dean of Students, David Koritkoski, has nothing but great things to say about the boarding experience at Williston.

“There are great faculty in the dorms and the relationships students form with their peers in a boarding environment will last a lifetime,” claimed Mr. Koritkoski.

“We work very hard as a school to make sure our boarding students are well-served and there is a lot of programming in place to give a value-added experience,” he said. “When a day student leaves to go home there is still a lot of learning, socialization, and engagement that boarding students experience.”