All boys. All boarding. Grades 9-12.
News Detail
Maxwell Barnes ’17 Talks About his Trimester in South Africa
Maxwell Barnes ’17 decided to apply for Woodberry’s South Africa program after he got to know Armin Prinsloo, who spent the fall of 2014 at Woodberry as part of the program when both were cast members in Woodberry’s production of Romeo and Juliet. “When it was time to apply, I just decided to go for it. I wanted to find out more about a part of the world I didn’t know much about,” says Maxwell, who hails from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
Maxwell was thrilled to be selected to spend a trimester at Armin’s alma mater, Michaelhouse, one of the three South African boys’ boarding schools with which Woodberry exchanges students. He studied up on the country’s history and watched the biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Once he arrived, Maxwell became fascinated by the country’s political system and the controversial presidency of Jacob Zuma.
While at Michaelhouse, Maxwell had opportunities to travel around South Africa with a tour guide who escorted him and the school’s Argentinian exchange student to the country’s historic sites. He remembers the sublime experience of sitting atop the mountain called Isandlwana in KwaZulu-Natal, looking out over the vast landscape. Other moments were more sobering, as when he witnessed extreme poverty in some of the townships.
Near the end of his trimester at Michaelhouse, Maxwell met with the school’s rector. “He wanted to know about Woodberry’s honor system,” Maxwell says. “He is trying to establish an honor system at Michaelhouse.” That gave Maxwell a chance to reflect on the tradition so central to the Woodberry experience. “Living for a trimester without an honor system really helped me appreciate the freedom we have here at Woodberry,” he says. “Life is just easier.”
Maxwell, who called his three months in South African “life-changing,” came back to the Forest with more than just his memories of tourist sites and conversations. He says he’s become “more motivated and more confident.” And he learned conversation skills that helped him find out more about the culture in which he was immersed. “I realized I needed to ask questions if I wanted to get past the language barrier and cross cultures.”
And what would he advise a student thinking of following his footsteps to South Africa? “Just try to match the South Africans’ friendliness,” Maxwell says. “Their country has made a lot of progress, so they’re pretty relaxed. They’re also very hopeful; no challenge seems too difficult to them.”
Woodberry Forest School is an exceptional private school community for high school boys in grades nine through twelve. It is one of the top boarding schools in the United States and one of the only all-boys, all-boarding schools in the country.
Explore & Resources
Woodberry Forest admits students of any race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, and national or ethnic origin to all of the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs. The school is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students.