Home Schooled

For those of you who don't know, I was home schooled for the first 13 years of my life. That was a joke because everyone knows I was home schooled. If you can't tell by looking at me, I'll tell you because I want to make sure everyone I meet knows exactly what they're dealing with: a super genius. It has come to my attention that there are many myths surrounding the idea of home schooling, and most people don't know any home schoolers since- you guessed it, they're all at home- so they simply buy into the stereotypes and assume that everyone with their shirt tucked in is a socially awkward study freak. Well, as a real, live, former home-schooler who also went to private school and one semester of a State University, thereby accruing a few much-needed social skills, I want to address some of those myths in this post. So here's the deal: they're all true. Most home schoolers are at least slightly awkward when it comes to everyday social encounters, most are far more well-read than the average public schooler, and most either don't really interact with the opposite sex, or if they do, they stress out about it A LOT. They are also really knowledgeable about American History and often dress from a different era. When I started high school, it took me a long time to learn that spouting off information is not usually a good idea, but that it's helpful at test time. It took me much, much longer to understand the sexual banter that goes on CONSTANTLY in high school hallways. (I asked a lot of questions, and let me tell you, that story always ends in embarrassment for all parties involved) It took me a very long time to realize that sometimes people lie to me and I shouldn't always do what the grown-ups say. It took me until probably this year to figure out just what my fashion sense really is, and it's still evolving. I once asked a boy why his eyes were so red and wondered for days why he got so uncomfortable and wouldn't answer me. Oh, and I sometimes used a dictionary to look up cuss words that I didn't know. That being said, I had a very strong academic base, and the switch from home to high school was probably no worse than any other kids graduation from middle school since most 14 year olds are pretty insecure regardless of their background. And somehow, despite all the people who take themselves so ridiculously seriously, I learned how to laugh at myself. I always wonder if people can still pick me out in a crowd as a home schooler. So we're different. Sue us.