Hello, my name is Dorothea, I’m from Berlin and I spent year abroad here at Branksome Hall, an all-girls school downtown Toronto.
I already decided at the end of grade 9 that I want to do a year abroad because I heard so many people describing the one year abroad as the year of their life. I wanted to make all this new experiences myself, getting to know more of the world, stepping out of my comfort zone, making friendships for a lifetime. I was really excited when I started the whole process, but when it actually came to choosing a school there were moments where I was just confused and not sure anymore if I would find the perfect school. With the support of my family and the ssb team I finally decided for Branksome. Looking back, the preparation seminar in Dortmund and all the tips ssb gave me about how to prepare best and make the arrival easier turned out to be very helpful. I surprised myself that I took the risk of spending one year in a completely unknown environment since I was a shy, introverted and cautious person, always trying to make predictable decisions without risks. I had never been on a girl school or in a boarding school before not mentioning living on my own away from home for a longer time.