Freshman year of college was the first year of "structured school," if you will, that I'd ever attended in the U.S. Growing up homeschooled, I was bombarded with questions about my personal life, how I managed my social life, being around my parents 24/7, or how I was able to muster up the discipline to complete my schoolwork. Basically, the questions were endless and always ended with, "wow, I could never do that." That comment always confused me, because it was either said with wonder or with disdain. They would leave me standing there in bewilderment asking myself, "how could they possibly know, when all they have heard about homeschoolers is either from me or the rumors about us?" That said, I want to address some of the most irritating questions that I was asked throughout my life, as well as here at GU.
1. "You Didn't Have To Work That Hard Because Your Parents Graded The Assignments, Right?"
Yes, absolutely! My mom only gave me the best of grades, but that didn't mean that I got A's every time. Sometimes I got B's but that was when I asked my dad to grade me. All jokes aside, there are many types of "homeschooled." One, is having a schedule and curriculum sent to you by an actual "homeschooling" school. They require you to send in all your completed work, twice a semester, where they proceed to grade it, very much like a midterm and final but where each count as 50 percent of your grade. No pressure or anything, it's easy... Although my mom graded my daily work such as; math, science...etc; my GPA was given to me by St. Thomas Aquinas Academy. Believe me when I say I didn't choose homeschooling because it was easy.
2. "Were you homeschooled because of your religious views?"
Yes! Because all homeschoolers are either crazy conservatives or stinky hippies. Are you kidding me... I was homeschooled because my mom wanted my brother and I to not be held down by the restrictions of society. Meaning, when everyone was starting there first day of middle school, I was at the beach looking at starfish and experiencing life outside of a building. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me this question, I would be able to pay for GU tution without taking out a loan.
3. "Are You Socially Awkward?"
No, I'm Not Socially Awkward... Most of the Time. But honestly people, who isn't? Take a look around your school and tell me how many people you know that have gone to school their entire life who are still socially inept. Homeschoolers are the same. Some of us can talk but can't do math; and some of us can do math but not talk. Life goes on.
4. "How Could You Have Possibly Been Motivated Enough To Do Your School Work?"
Motivation was just as big an issue for homeschoolers as it was for regular schoolers. However with one difference. Basically put, you had to do your schoolwork or you felt left behind and ignorant. Trust me when I say it wasn't easy though. Since I wasn't inhibited by "moving at the pace of the slowest student" that meant that if I was getting A's, St. Thomas upped my work load. My school years were a month longer than normal and I had to document and complete 19 different subjects daily. Plus, once you realize that you haven't left the house for a week, there really is much else to do other than school. College is much easier. Although having more than just two solid deadlines a semester still irks me, but I manage.
5. "Oh, You Were Homeschooled... Was That Fun?"
Although my work load was difficult to manage, if I was unusually motivated one week, I would double my load so that I could take a week off to snowboard, hangout with friends,...ect. Or you know, Read the entire LOTR series again...It wasn't fun at all. It was FANTASTIC! I was able to go out and do the things I wanted to do without having every single hour of my life planned out by anyone other than myself.
6. "Do You Know How To Live In the 'Real World'?"
My question is, "Did you?" I learned how to shop for groceries for my entire family, I lived in Australia and worked on a dairy farm for fun with my Godfather, I am able to communicate with generations other than my own (one of my best friends is 80, her name is Betsy). The list is endless. Although public school children and homeschooled children may have learned different aspects about life, that doesn't mean that we didn't learn. We just learned something different than normal, which is the whole point to homeschooling, if you didn't get that already.
7. "I Bet You Were Homeschooled Because Your Parents Wanted To Keep You Sheltered From Society, Right?"
Well, not from real problems but if you would have asked me who Justin Bieber is, I would have asked if he was a character in a book. I do have to say that I was lucky as a homeschooler. My dad was very adamant that I play sports on public teams until high school and I believe that is what saved me, but only a little. However, on the subject of real world issues, I was no less sheltered or had opinions forced upon me as everyone else was.
8. "I Bet You Hate Your Mom?"
My mom was and is still my best friend. She is fantastic. Although I don't think that I can count how many times we have been at each other's throats over school work, I would not change it for the world. We have a better relationship because of it. However, being with her 24/7 was very irritating at times. I miss her when I am at school, like there is no tomorrow.
9. "All I Know About Homeschoolers Is That They Are Really Into Weird Stuff, Are You?"
Everyone has their strange hobbies or personality quirks. However, one stereotype that I can say is true, we are super nerdy and sometimes not in a good way. I know how to knit anything, I taught myself elvish from the LOTR (but so did my other friends...they were homeschoolers though), I made goat soap for my 4-H Club, memorized an animal encyclopedia, and finally, I didn't learn how to read until I was 10. I had discovered books on tape and didn't see why I needed to learn how to read. However, once I taught myself how, you would never see me without a book in my hand. All of these things and more are very embarrassing to write about, but without them I would not be nearly half as interesting.
10. "If You Had It To Do Over, Would You Still Homeschool?"
Homeschooling was the most eye opening experience that I could have ever asked for. Although it was difficult I will never regret it. I enjoyed vast amounts of freedom and learned different aspects in life that I would have otherwise been unable to experience. I'll I can say to those who still doubt homeschoolers, is bring it on.
