“While I was going to school” vs “While I went to school”

Question

While I was going to school, I met him.

While I went to school, I met him.

Is there be any difference?

Answer 1

The first sentence makes sense. You were on your way to school and you met someone. Since you are using the objective pronoun him, it is clear that the listener already knows who you are referring to.

1. While I was going to school, I met him.

2. While I went to school, I met him.

The second sentence is a mess. It could mean that during the time that you attended school, you met him.

To answer your question: yes, the sentences are different.

Try these:

I met him at school.

I met him when I was in high school.

We met at school.

We met when we were in high school.

Going to school can mean attend school or travel to school!

Travel

We met on the bus.

We met on the school bus.

I met him on the way to school.

While walking to school, I met this guy.

Attending school

While going to school, I became friends with him.

We met and became friends at school.