Change can be hard but sometimes it’s for the best. As a student who has been homeschooled my whole life, I was beyond nervous to step into this new journey called college. Before coming to Troy University my daily schedule was normally doing school work in my bed wearing pajamas and finishing all my work around 1 pm. Only one day a week would I have a class taught by an actual teacher, the rest of my subjects were in books or online. Whether you were homeschooled or not, college is an overwhelming change for just about everyone.

The biggest difference with homeschooled and public/private schoolers is the fact that our education was solely based on self-motivation. It was entirely up to me to make decent grades and understand the material I was given with only minor help. In the public education system, there are definitely students who are on their own as well and it really is up to each individual student to make decent grades but they also had a teacher five days a week helping reinforce the subject the student was learning and help with any questions they may have had. For me, I hoped that my parents knew the answer to my question and if they didn’t, well, the internet was my second “go to”.

Now don’t get me wrong homeschooling had its perks, even though the word home is in the title, I was hardly ever home. Which I enjoyed most of the time, I loved getting out of the house and experiencing different activities in my community. The downside was the fact that most of my work was completed in the car on the way to a field trip or to visit my brother who was in the military. If you have ever tried writing a paper in a moving vehicle you know the struggle. My handwriting would be quite sloppy when trying to write while going over speed bumps, pot holes, or just the road in general. Wherever I went, so did my backpack.

Hopefully, it’s the same for all homeschooled students who are now college students but I’m starting to get into a decent schedule and there are certain habits I picked up in homeschooling which are helping me in my college classes. First, my self-discipline is really pushing me to finish all my homework before the deadline. Second, I always carry my notes around everywhere so any free time between classes can be used to study. Basically, the same as when I was homeschooled and brought my subjects with me everywhere. The part of college that is comforting to all freshman is we are all in the same boat, everything is new to us and we get to figure it out together.

I hope everyone can adapt to this new change in life and we are hopefully all able to reach our goals for a successful life. If you’re a home school student starting college as well, just remember, you’re not alone. Everyone is trying to adapt to this unfamiliar environment. This part of our life is the next step in pursuing our dreams.