When I was 8 years old, my Mama and I went to the grocery store to buy a few things. As we were checking out, an older lady looked at me and said “Little girl, it is 11 o’clock! You should be in school.”

Here we go again. I have to take a few minutes out of my day to explain that I am homeschooled and have already finished school for the day. Oh, but then, I have to explain why I’m homeschooled and that I’m not Amish, or that I don’t have a learning disability. Of course, I could just walk away and not even bother, but it is truly amazing how nosy people can be when they find out you’re homeschooled. Out of nowhere, I’m bombarded with questions about my life and my learning ability… you know personal things.

When people that go to a “real school” are asked about their education, it may include a question about their favorite class. On the other hand, I get asked questions like “Well, are you antisocial, since you don’t have friends?” Oh yeah, people have asked me that. After years of being asked questions like that one, I got used to it, which isn’t the best thing, but it’s just something I had to do. I realized that this wasn’t a norm for many people and I had to be patient if they had questions that I found offensive or personal. In return, I hoped they would be respectful and accepting, but surprisingly enough, that was rarely the case. Either my Mama would get dirty looks or people would just laugh at me and say “good luck” as they walked away. It was never easy for my Mama since she was my teacher from elementary through high school. Other parents would attack her with mean comments about how she’s ruining my life and future. If I’m being completely honest, there were times I let those people get to me. I began to believe that I wasn’t smart enough and that I would always be that weird homeschooled girl.

When senior year rolled around, I started feeling nervous about what the future had in store for me. I knew I wanted to go to college, but I couldn’t help but wonder if people would still label me as the weird homeschooled girl. This was an opportunity for me to start over and meet new people that had no idea that this was my first time in an actual school. During my freshman year, I met some great people that were absolutely flabbergasted when they found out I was homeschooled. All my life, people laughed at me and teased, but now, I had strangers that accepted me and saw me as an intelligent student. I would be lying if I said every person I’ve crossed in college has been accepting, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. The people that teased me and made me feel small helped me grow into a hard-working and successful college student. I have already accomplished so many wonderful things and I’m only entering my second semester of my sophomore year. The transition from being alone in a room to a lecture hall filled with a hundred students is not easy, but it is possible. Every semester, I think back to those moments I was teased, I hug my Mama for being the best teacher I ever had, and I go to class with the inspiration to succeed.

If there is one thing I hope you, dear reader, can take away from this, it is to be thoughtful. There are so many things we don't know about, and only because we aren't familiar with a specific topic doesn't mean we have to automatically judge. Homeschooling may not be the traditional route many people take, but it exists and deserves respect. I had the honor of having a hands-on education with my Mama as my teacher, and I am thriving at a university with wonderful grades. I am no longer the weird homeschooled girl, but I will always be proud of that part of my life.