Leaving the Nest

"Ok, so tell me..." she leaned forward in her chair. "Was it harder for you to be in a classroom and everything, since you were homeschooled? I mean, was it harder to adjust to college?"

My view of the student asking the question was blocked, as the girl to whom the question had actually been addressed turned in her desk to provide what I hoped would be a biting answer.

"Somewhat," she said softly. "Maybe it took a little more adjustment..."

Of their own accord, my eyes rolled dramatically and I turned back toward the front of the room, crossed my arms and slouched in my seat, sighing with resignation.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of being a homeschool graduate, or current student, is hearing the same arguments recycled to no end, with each speaker feeling that he or she has had a great epiphany about the dangers of independent thinking and must share it in hushed tones of concern. Pushing to top the list of these concerns, is the idea that HSG will not be able to leave the nest, get out of the home and adapt to a college environment filled with other human beings, perish the thought.

The flaw in this concept is that a great deal of success in college is obtained through a desire and ability to learn, not a desire and ability to take tests, sit in class for three hours and socialize outside of the classroom. These abilities are the product of an initial commitment to succeed. And HSG are nothing if not commited to success.

The truth, however, is that HSG only struggle with these things on an individual basis, not as a whole because they were not glued to a desk under a stiff routine for 12 years. There are any number of reasons why a student may struggle with a certain subject, not be overly social, suffer from text anxiety or find college stressful in general.

In the end, however, society's "concern" for the success of HSG in college only fuels their drive to excel, not only in a college environment, but in the workforce.

One college graduate and former homeschool student posted her excitement on the wall of Facebook group, "I was homeschooled and I still made it to college."

"Yay! I graduated college last week and got a job right away," she wrote. "I graduated at the top of my class and, although it was a lot of work, I was totally prepared for it! Now I can shove my beautiful college diploma in all those mean people's faces who said I couldn't make it out there!"