Admissions: A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School

This is my first memoir read in 2022 and I am glad to start off the year with a good one. This is the 4th memoir set at least partly in boarding school that I’ve read, and I would say that I am drawn to this setting in fiction too.I thought this was a very engaging read that addresses microaggressions in the world of preparatory boarding schools. I think this book really highlighted how insular of a community these can be, and how those who didn’t fit the “typical” prep school student were treated differently and not fully integrated into the community.I really liked Kendra and her friends and enjoyed reading about the drama and relationships. I think if you don’t like reading high school settings, this won’t appeal to you but I really liked it.I would definitely recommend this book.

If she knew then what she knows now. Would it have changed her experience as a minority student at the mostly white Taft boarding school where daily microaggressions and blatant racism were the norm? Hard to say as she was just trying to get through the day, achieve academic success, manage being away from home, and enjoy being a high schooler.As graduates of the elite Taft School, both Kendra’s parents wanted their daughter to follow in their footsteps. She became the first Black legacy to graduate from the school 20 years ago. Just because she had a history with the school, it did not secure a smooth path. Kendra paints a picture of how sheltered she was from what she would encounter in her future and how little the administration would support her, the intolerance she came to face, and lack of emotional understanding her peers provided.When a student falsely accuses Kendra of a crime and she is forced to admit guilt to avoid being expelled, never even admitting the truth to her parents, perhaps this would be her breaking point, but it doesn’t come until years later. Imagine a young girl having to bear the weight of this trauma alone without anyone to turn to.The school did not foster an inclusive environment. Further evidence shows that the racial divide reached new heights when students of color were attacked via a ludicrous student newspaper article laying the absurd blame for segregation on them.​ADMISSIONS is indeed a story of survival. I wonder what Kendra would say to her teenage self today.

I wanted to like this. I generally like memoirs, and this one, about education, class, race, and gender, should’ve been up my alley. But the book needed an editor. Too many superbly trivial details that detracted from the narrative. Too little clarity about a key aspect of the author’s point of view: was she irritated about being a legacy but not having that noticed or ‘planned for’ by people at Taft, including the Black woman who advised her?

How do African American students respond to a White student reporter who writes "they are the real segregationists." This happened at a boarding school in the book "Admissions," written by Kendra James. She writes about race and class in an exclusive school. The Taft School in Connecticut that James attends has its racial problems just like any other school in America. No White teacher supported the Black students on the editorial. Kendra writes a good memoir about life in a boarding school.

I think Kendra James writes a quirky but important memoir about being an outsider in an insider’s training camp. I was there, too - a couple of years ahead of her father. Different school; same process. Different generation; same events. Because it’s a memoir, it doesn’t lead the reader to the path of change. That’s up to the reader to find between the lines as good human effort.

It’s a fast read that has something relatable to all of us who’ve reflected on high school after years have passed. Rich with the author’s personal experiences that give the readers something to learn and consider about perspective and lives of others. Throughly enjoyed her writing. Compelling immersion in her prep school world.

I definitely liked the idea behind this book. I was really excited for a discussion about being Black in a white space. But I felt this book really only scraped the surface. I’d imagine if you were one of the authors classmates, you’d probably be on the edge of your seat. But I lost interest around the story of them taking their classmates locs out. I typically finish books, but I tapped out early with this one.

Is it because she is black or is it because she is "quirky", that she had problems fitting in? She jumped all over the place with this "dilemma". It is a sad "given" that she'd have difficulties being black in a white private school, but weren't some of her problems linked to her personality?

**SPOILER ALERT****I thought I'd like this book more than I did. While it was interesting, I found that it will become dated very quickly: the author makes a ton of brand name and pop culture references that seemed almost like product placement or name dropping, it got annoying. Being older than her, I had to look some of it up.I'm perplexed why she continued to work in the elite private school system after she had such an experience: was it to try to change the system? to help out the kids trapped in it? I really didn't know. The frank discussion of racism and microaggressions was interesting and not surprising, elite private schools have a bad rep for that.Not a bad read, but not great.