“You were HOMESCHOOLED?” This is a question I have heard repeated at least two-dozen times since I began college, people are generally shocked by the fact that I am social, able to make friends, and am overall fairly well adjusted. However, when I tell people that almost 75% of my pre-college education came from homeschooling, you’d think I had just told them an outlandish theory entailing migrating coconuts.
Now, I will certainly admit that there are many things about me that are not at all typical college age male traits; my hobbies, work, studies, and general pool of interests are a decent ways left of home plate for the 18-25 year olds in my census category. While my general personality may be somewhat different, it isn’t anything I’d attribute solely to homeschooling as much as wanting to do my own thing and follow more oddball interests. This is not to say normal or popular is bad in any way, this is just how I have turned out and what I am personally interested in, academic backgrounds aside.
Despite me personally being a little different, this does not mean I have ever had trouble making friends or adjusting to social situations in any way. I have always been very much an extrovert and have always wanted to make friends with everyone I meet, and talk to everyone and know everything about everyone. This is very much just my personality type, however I do not believe the type of schooling I received had any serious effect on this. Contrary to another popular belief about homeschoolers, I am not any form of Einsteinian genius with the capability to sling off solutions to impossible math solutions, in fact it’s a wonder I passed my math 110 with anything above an 80%. Homeschooling did not give me any magic knowledge powers or make me a prodigy in anyway.
What homeschooling HAS done for me is help give me a clearer picture of who I want to be and the opportunity to make it happen, it has also helped me develop a sense of how to effectively learn and study, giving me the ability to become smart on my own and pursue what I am interested in learning about. Homeschooling has not shaped me, as much as helped me to shape myself. I am working my dream job of playing piano for the enjoyment of other people, have made good friends without any ordeal, and am loving the path I am creating for myself. So while I still have to periodically explain that I did actually have to study and am not socially inept, I can accurately say that I am very grateful to have been homeschooled and continue to benefit from what homeschooling has to offer.
