Assessment:

So many people have asked me what college is like from the perspective of a homeschooled student, and as much as I believe the response makes me sound like a narcissist, I also believe that it is a valid question. So many people believe that it is impossible for a homeschooler to survive the outside world. They believe that we are “unsocialized” and “sheltered”;when they encounter a homeschooler who has gone on to the world of college, they have so many QUESTIONS about the adaptation to the new environment.

As a homeschooled student and an older child, I am accustomed to having a lot of responsibilities- laundry, dishes, cooking dinner, tutoring, and my own education. Before college, my daily schedule included waking up at 1:30am, homeschooling until 7am, napping until 9am, a quick breakfast for the fam and I, exercising with mom at 10:30am, then homework and duties until I fix dinner and go to bed at 7pm.

… So, as much as people warned me about how “hard” and “challenging” college would be academically, academics was the LEAST of my worries. If you’re talking responsibilities, then college was a step down for me. I went from managing a family and my education to managing myself in a dorm room the size of my bedroom. {???} I’m not saying that school itself was a walk through the park the whole time, but I was able to manage because of a strong foundation in time management, studying, and balance between social life and academics.

My biggest adjustment in college has been to the people. Never in my life have I ever cohabitated with or been around my own peers by choice, so dorm life itself was quite the adjustment for me. I felt a HUGE culture shock living around 42 other girls and being in classrooms where the students could care less about being in school or learning. It was frustrating because I had no “refuge” from being around girls! I wanted to go home to my mom and lie on her bed for hours and talk about a book or a current event… There is no escape! I can’t say that I have missed anything by not having my own peers for friends except that they keep me smiling.

Adjusting to personalities is another experience for me. For the most part, I have solidly known 5 different personalities my whole life, but in college there are INFINITELY MANY!!! OMG! SOOOO many different people who believe the craziest things, do the stupidest things, hang with the strangest crowds, and hold the strangest ideals and values. I was shocked at the things people think are correct or the morals they hold. OMG. I have met people who are so insecure that they seem retarded (I am NOT joking), people curse out their parents for ALL to hear, one girl on my floor smokes in her room (her mom is a pre-med professor there at school), some people see nothing wrong with sleeping around in our co-ed dorms, and alcohol is a HUGE problem on campus. I praise God that He has kept me centered and that He has surrounded me with people who keep me on my ps and qs and give me stern incentive to keep going strong with my life away from home.

The upside to school is being able to exercise my own independence and having the ability to make friends with international students, upper classmen, and professors who are serious about education and their development as a person. I like that I can have a variety of friends who bring out a different side of me and are still in love with Christ!


When I go back to school on the 5th, I will be sharing my room with a Dutch student studying for J-Term. I am SOOO excited! Maybe she speaks French!