Growing up in a homeschool setting has an effect on all aspects of a students life. I was homeschooled and there are things in my life that were totally different then they were for those who actually went to school. When I got accepted into college, I was expecting for the transition from being homeschooled to actually living away from home to be the most dramatic difference I had ever experienced. Even though I have had so many different adjustments in my life as a result of being homeschooled, I was prepared for this one to be the worst. However, I was happily proven wrong.
College is where many kids grow into adults and gain their independence. They learn that things are not revolving around them and people will not cater to them. I felt like I had already had some of that knowledge worked into my brain, because I previously had to teach myself everything, and if something did not work out for me, school wise, it was no ones fault but my own, which I understood. I felt like this alone helped me adjust to college at a quicker rate in comparison to others. I conducted an interview with a professor here at Florida State University, who has her masters in education; she stated how she noticed homeschoolers seemed more driven to get their work done and have a more positive outlook on the education system they are presented with compared to students who went to an actual school. I can personally agree with this statement. As a homeschooler, I did not suffer from the annoyances of teachers and the school system to an extreme of an extent as those who went to school experienced.
As a homeschooler, I was constantly talking to so many adults and other students older than me more often than as to kids my own age. My parent’s friends, the wide age range of children on my sports teams, and my siblings friends. I was never only stuck on talking to the kids close in age to me. In college, I also found this helpful to my transition. Talking to my professors was not scary, even though my fellow peers would announce their fear. I found it natural to talk to those students who were in grad school without feeling insecure in the conversations. As a result of homeschooling, I found myself actually more outgoing and able to communicate with a wider network of people.
Although I did find perks to being homeschooled that I believe helped me adjust to the college life at a faster pace, I still often had to deal with the stereotypes placed on homeschoolers from those all around me. Whenever I tell people that I was homeschooled, instantly, before they can correct their face, their eyes pop out of their head a little bit and the word “seriously” slips out of their mouth. People often go on to say “Oh sorry! You are just not as awkward as I thought homeschoolers were!” While I am used to this response, every time it gets on my nerves because I am tired of being looked at differently just because I was homeschooled. I made it to the same college as all the other students here did if they went to a “normal” highschool, and that should be enough to show I am an equally qualified at the college I am at.
For me, there were perks to being homeschooled. I felt like I had an edge on my independence before those who had someone telling them everything they needed to know and do for the past thirteen years. I also felt like it had prepared me to socialize with a wider range in age of people, because I had not been used to mainly talking to those in my same class. However, as a homeschooler, it will always be hard to adjust to the stereotypes that follow us all around, even into college. Thank goodness I was wrong about this being the hardest adjustment as a previously homeschooled student!
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