Our instructions were simple: "Make the university look good." All 18 student ambassadors in training slouched in our flimsy chairs at large tables arranged in a suggestive circle. They were great students, the cream of the academic crop. Most of them represented one or more campus subculture, and I was honored to be among them. A moment later, however, my enthusiasm was curbed, as the word “homeschool,” sliced through the oppressing, July air like a cold blade.“So when you deal with them,” our counselor concluded, “just be sensitive to the fact that they aren’t used to being around that many people, and the size of the school might intimidate them.”
No one stared at me accusingly, but I felt the center of attention nonetheless, as if a flashing sign, much like the one above, were hanging over my head, exposing the details of an educational identity I hadn’t yet shared. In addition to our counselor’s exaggeration of Missouri Western State University’s size, his polite jab at the social ineptitude of homeschool graduates confirmed my acquired belief that the past of a home school grad is best left there, hidden from the judgmental eyes of college instructors and peers.
It is a belief worth discussing. Should home schoolgrads tell others of their educational background up front? When confronted about what high school they attended, should they smile with pride or change the subject for fear of being filtered through the same stereotypes they discovered growing up?
Kenna, homeschool graduate and freshman at UMKC, says the subject comes up all the time among friends and professors. And she usually doesn’t hesitate to discuss her upbringing. “(My) most negative (response) wasn’t too bad… just a surprised look and an ‘oh’ as in 'that’s too bad.' They really just didn’t understand."
Martha, HSG and freshman at Highland Community College, prefers to wait until asked where she attended school. “I just really don’t think being homeschooled is that much more or special.” She adds, “some people, when they learn I’ve been homeschooled, retreat and never say another word to me again. …many more are very interested to learn how I did it.”
The greatest risk of volunteering this information is the potential of being judged before having any chance to prove oneself. Mary, a student at Missouri Western, says that, had she been homeschooled, she would probably not have brought it up without being asked. She notes, “I have heard a lot of the homeschool jokes - and I guess I would not want anyone judging me just because I had a different type of education.”
Four years of higher education have firmly sealed my lips when the conversation swings around to high school. Fiercely proud of my parents’ home teaching, I’ve discovered the answer lies in remaining always above reproach. Don’t feel it necessary to inform peers and instructors of a highly stereotyped educational history before establishing a record that will silence their criticism. If you have been homeschooled, and you wish to end stereotypes instead of feeding them, let your actions, in every area of college life, speak louder than the rumors that will beat you there.
~Graphic contributed by Amanda Ketron, HSG and Graphic Design major.
