Elizabeth Woolridge Grant wasn’t always the tragic, vintage-filtered icon we know today. Long before the flower crowns and the "Video Games" breakthrough, she was just a teenager from Lake Placid with a growing dependency on alcohol. It’s a part of her history that fans obsess over. Why? Because the boarding school Lana Del Rey attended became the crucible for the persona she eventually built. It wasn’t just a school; it was a redirection.
She was sent away at 14. That is a heavy age for anyone. In her own words, she was "sent to boarding school to get sober." This wasn't a punishment for bad grades or general teenage rebellion. It was a medical necessity. The school was Kent School in Connecticut. It’s an elite, private Episcopal preparatory school, and it’s about as far from the "Born to Die" aesthetic as you can get, yet it’s exactly where the seeds of that aesthetic were sown.
What Actually Happened at Kent School?
Lana has been incredibly open about her early struggles. She once told GQ that she was a "big drinker" back then. It's wild to think about a 14-year-old dealing with that kind of weight, but she’s clarified that she would drink every day. She would drink alone. It was a dark time that feels eerily similar to the melancholic themes in her later discography.
Her uncle worked at the school. He was an admissions officer. This is a detail often missed by casual listeners who think she was just "shipped off" to a random facility. Having family there likely provided a safety net, though Lana has described her time there as lonely and transitional. Imagine being a young girl with a burgeoning creative mind, stripped of your hometown comforts and forced into a rigorous academic and disciplinary environment.
The environment at Kent is prestigious. It’s old-money Connecticut. We’re talking about a school founded in 1906 with a massive endowment and a reputation for sending kids to the Ivy League. For Lana, it was a culture shock. She went from the quiet, snowy woods of Lake Placid to a place where her peers were the children of the global elite. She felt like an outsider.
The Boarding School Lyrics Every Fan Analyzes
If you listen to her unreleased tracks or even her debut album Lana Del Ray A.K.A. Lizzy Grant, the references are everywhere. She mentions "boarding school" specifically in songs like "Boarding School" (shocker) and "This Is What Makes Us Girls."
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"Put on your mascara and your party dress / Step into the light, say hello to the New York City nights."
In "This Is What Makes Us Girls," she paints a vivid picture of 16-year-old girls getting into trouble, stealing cars, and drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon. She sings about being "sent away" because her mother saw her "sucking on a gold thimble." It’s poetic, but the core truth is there. The "gold thimble" is widely interpreted as a metaphor for her drinking habits or perhaps the lifestyle she was chasing.
The song "Boarding School" is even more direct. It’s a bit more satirical and dark. It talks about "doing drugs in the locker room" and "faking it for the teachers." While Lana has cautioned that her lyrics are a blend of truth and cinematic fiction, the emotional core remains the same: a sense of displacement and the loss of innocence. It’s that specific feeling of being young, rich, bored, and deeply sad.
Debunking the "Industry Baby" Narrative
There is a loud group of critics who claim Lana Del Rey is a "manufactured" artist because of her wealthy upbringing and her time at Kent School. They use the boarding school Lana Del Rey narrative to suggest she didn't "struggle" for her art. This is a pretty shallow take.
Honestly, it’s a bit of a double standard. Plenty of male rockers come from wealthy backgrounds, but their "authenticity" is rarely questioned with the same vitriol. Lana’s father, Rob Grant, was a successful domain developer, but he didn't buy her a record deal. In fact, her first few attempts at music under names like May Jailer were quiet, lo-fi affairs that didn't go anywhere.
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The boarding school years weren't a launchpad for fame. They were a period of rehabilitation. When she finished Kent, she didn't immediately go to Hollywood. She went to Fordham University in the Bronx to study metaphysics. Metaphysics! She wanted to understand the bridge between science and religion. That doesn't sound like a manufactured pop star; it sounds like a kid who spent four years in a Connecticut dorm room thinking way too much about the meaning of life.
The Impact on the "Lana Del Rey" Persona
You can't separate the artist from the education. Kent School gave her a front-row seat to the "Old Money" aesthetic that defines her brand. The East Coast prep style, the references to Gatsby-esque parties, and the tension between "proper" behavior and "wild" impulses all stem from this era.
She saw the cracks in the veneer. She saw the kids who had everything but were miserable. That observation is the backbone of her songwriting. She isn't just celebrating the American Dream; she's eulogizing it. She takes the imagery of the elite—the tennis courts, the private chapels, the pearls—and subverts it by infusing it with a sense of impending doom.
It’s about the contrast. The contrast between a "good girl" at a prestigious school and the "bad girl" drinking in the woods.
Why People Still Search for This Today
It’s because of the relatability. Even if you didn't go to a $60,000-a-year boarding school, you probably felt misunderstood at 15. You probably felt like you were being "sent away" in some emotional sense.
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Lana’s transparency about her sobriety is also a huge factor. In a world where celebrities often hide their messy pasts, she leaned into hers. She didn't hide the fact that she went to school to get help. That makes the boarding school Lana Del Rey story one of resilience, not just privilege.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Researchers
If you want to understand this era of her life better, don't just look at the tabloids. Look at the primary sources.
- Listen to the "Sirens" Album: This was recorded under the name May Jailer. It’s raw, acoustic, and gives you a much better sense of her mindset shortly after her boarding school years than her later, more polished work.
- Research Kent School’s History: Understanding the strictness of an Episcopal prep school in the early 2000s puts her "rebellious" lyrics into a much clearer context. It wasn't just "partying"—it was an act of defiance against a very rigid system.
- Read the 2012 GQ Interview: This is where she gave the most candid details about her alcohol dependency at 14. It’s the definitive source for this period.
- Watch the "This Is What Makes Us Girls" Lyric Analysis: Many fan-made breakdowns on YouTube use old photos of Lana (Lizzy) from her school days. Seeing her in that environment—no makeup, messy hair, looking like a normal kid—humanizes her in a way her music videos don't.
The reality is that Lana Del Rey is a character, but Elizabeth Grant is the person who survived the prep school pressure cooker. The two are inextricably linked. You don't get the "Summertime Sadness" without the Connecticut winters. You don't get the icon without the girl who was just trying to get through the day without a drink. It’s a story of transformation. From a troubled kid in a dorm room to one of the most influential songwriters of the 21st century.
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