From This is my life before America by Bronia Cimmerman Bronkesh:

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"At 13, I took the entrance exams to the Polish high school in Sarny. The quota for Jews was only 10%. It wasn’t easy to get in and I became the first alternate. I was sent to Rovno, a bigger city than Sarny, to attend a private high school. I had to live with a family because the school had no boarding facilities. It was 1934. It was a very traumatic time for me.  I was homesick, 13 years old and didn’t know many people. At Christmas I was able to go home and enter the Polish High School in Sarny. From then on my school years were the best. Although I did well, the teachers insisted that I should use my brains more. I couldn’t care less, I had fun. My social life was terrific. With friends galore, we spent summers on the beach. We had a beautiful river and I loved the sun, so I spent every day with friends on the beach."