In my case I started that experience early since my last two years of high school were spent at boarding school. One very popular student was in my anthropology class, he was from Ghana and before the class started he'd tell us fascinating and amusing stories of what it was like for him at home, like the array of animals that we'd never see that would come into his yard at home. He was also arguably the smartest guy in the school and an excellent soccer player. What's the point of going away to school of you only meet people that you'd likely meet at home??