Saturday, May 5

In Which I Talk (More) About Being Homeschooled


As the school year is slowly winding up (or is it down?) and I'm about to graduate from high school and embark on my next academic adventure, I've thought a lot about my education. And how thankful I am for every aspect of my education, and really how it's molded me into the person I am today.

A lot of people talk of the disadvantages of being home schooled, and while I don't think they're necessarily "disadvantages", I can see where people are going from. Sure, it's a bummer that I didn't get to go to Prom last weekend. And, I would definitely love to have a multitude of opportunities for scholarships, friends, and the like. But no one seems to notice the "disadvantages" of being public school. For starters, the drama that exists between students. Then there's the fact that there's this huge problem with how you're not taught as an individual, but rather everyone is supposed to learn in the same way. 
It's seems that when people talk about the advantages of being home schooled all they can think of is that you can sleep in "late" and wear pajama's if you want. Seriously? Do you really think I'm home schooled for just those two reasons? That would be very stupid of me to disregard public school for only the reasons of being able to sleep later and wear pajamas. So here's what I've learned in my eight or so years of being home schooled: 

1) I've learned to be self motivated. I'm definitely not saying that if you aren't home schooled you can't be self motivated, but really for a homeschooler there's not really any other option. You set your pace for the day, and you are the one who makes sure you accomplish it. Of course your parent is watching, and making sure as well, but that's usually at the end of the day. If you want to succeed, you have to do it all on your own.

2) I've learned how to be by myself. It could be just my personality, but I've noticed this attribute in a lot of other home schooled kids. I've learned that if I want to do something, a lot of the time I'm going to have to do it by myself. When all my other friends were figuring out when they'd all be able to take driver's training with each other, I took the nearest one by myself and was completely okay with it. Now, when I look at other kids my age getting ready for college I see them all either A) trying to get into the same college as their friends or B) trying to get as close as possible to them. I, on the other hand, am going completely alone. 

3) I've had to learn who my real friends are. I usually see this aspect of life eventually happen to everyone as they grow up, but for homeschoolers it happens a little quicker. When you're not with your friends everyday it's easy to lose connection, and I think a lot of young adults would agree with me. I know that I've made lifelong friends during high school years, simply because we've already had to work twice as hard as "normal" highschoolers to make our friendships last because we don't get to actually see each other very often. I learned a long time ago which friends were here to stay, and which ones weren't. And I wish that no one had to go through that, but everyone will, and mine was just a little early. 
4) I've learned how to get along with my family. Okay, I'm not going to lie, there are a lot of times that all of us fight. But, when you're with the same three people nearly twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week you have to learn how to get along with them. And this really goes for anyone you're living with. I was taught at an early age that family is extremely important. All family. No matter what. And one important thing is to get along with them, even when you want to murder them. 

5) You really do get to wear pajamas if you want to. This certainly isn't a good reason, but it's true. But, I really suspect that if I went to public school I'd still wear pajamas if I wanted to. But seriously. I get to do algebraic equations while sitting on my bed, sipping hot chocolate, wrapped in a blankie, while wearing fleece pajama pants. 

4 comments:

  1. I freaking love your nose ring!! :)

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  2. Now I kind of wish I was homeschooled :P

    ~Brit
    www.brittany-sims.com

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    Replies
    1. Haha, it was definitely the best for me. But it's for everyone :)

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  3. awww you look soo cute :)
    I love this post!

    http://bubblemylicorice.blogspot.com/

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