#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 1: 7 Myths About Homeschoolers

May 15, 2019



Hi there, welcome back to the blog!

            Today I am coming at you with a very special post/announcement: there is going to be a new series on this blog and guess what?  It starts TODAY.  My apologies for the short notice but I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a thing or not.  I had this idea awhile back when I was contemplating on what kind of post I wanted to do in spirit of me graduating this year.  I came up with a couple ideas and finally decided that there were too many things I wanted to talk about and it just wouldn’t all fit in one blog post (or it’d be so long that you all would be sleeping by halfway through it.) 

            So thus was born the #HowISurvivedHighSchool series.  And yes, the dramatic title was indeed my own original creation.  I'm super excited and also very nervous to share these next few posts with you.  I feel like for the last year or so I’ve been a very private person and just haven’t shared much with you guys so I’m really going to try to be as much as an open book as possible which sounds totally scary if I’m being honest.
            Before I get started with part one, I want to make a few general points about this particular series:

1.  This is a 6 week series and a new part will be posted each Wednesday (so mark your calendars.)
2.  I am NOT here to call anyone out or speak poorly of anyone I’ve encountered throughout my High School career.  That’s not my vibe and my intentions of writing these posts are to encourage; not to bring anyone down.
3.  I will be talking about certain people I’ve encountered and things I’ve experienced, but please know that NO NAMES will be mentioned; if a name has to be used it will be changed.
4.  All the things I am going to tell you are true and are my stories that I have a right to tell.
5.  Please read/listen with open ears and hearts.
6.  Some of the topics I will be discussing are mature and very series at times so if you can’t handle the intensity, please feel free to click out at any time.


Okay so with all that out of the way, I want to jump straight in to part one.  I want to spend this first part telling you guys exactly what I do all day: aka “Behind the Scenes of a Homeschooler.”  I feel like there are a lot of misconceptions of homeschooling in general and I want to take some time to tell you guys exactly what is and isn’t true about us “weird kids.”

1.  Homeschoolers don’t actually study, we just sit around and watch Netflix in our pjs
This is definitely not true in my case.  I can only speak for myself, of course, so there may be kids out there that do this but I try to be as productive as possible each day.  Now there are definitely some days where I’m just lazy but for the most part I like to wake up and get things done.  As you know, I do have a part time job along with blogging and doing YouTube as hobbies so I definitely try to balance all of that throughout my week. 
            Being homeschooled definitely teaches you a lot about time management.  There’s no bell to signal the start and end of the school day or the pressure to complete assignments by a certain time.  You have to decide all this for yourself; which is good and bad for some cases.  It took me almost my whole High School career to finally develop a good routine that works for me.

2.  You don’t have a social life
This is one of the biggest myths of homeschooling.  People automatically assume that because we stay at home for school that we never leave the house.  If only.  No, for me it’s been quite the opposite: I have too much of a social life.  Okay so I have to admit, I’m not a very social person to begin with.  At events you can usually catch me in the corner, probably eating.  So having a social life has never been an issue for me but again, it could be different for others.
I’ve had people my age who aren’t homeschooled tell me “I would love to be homeschooled but I would miss the social part of school.”  People who attend public school definitely have the advantage when it comes to extracurricular activities.  Most school districts won’t allow homeschoolers to be on their football team, join Latin club, etc.   I would like to see that change but that’s a whole other blog post.
I really think there are plenty of opportunities out there for homeschoolers.  I’ve been an active 4-H member for 6 years; I’ve been a part of several Youth Groups, as well as activities at my local library.  So for me, socializing has never been an issue.  There are many activities to get involved in; it just may require looking a little harder.

3.  You don’t have friends
This goes along with the previous assumption but I wanted to quickly address this on its own.  I’m going to talk about friendship in an upcoming part to this series, but as far as making friends as a homeschooler I really don’t think it’s that hard.  As long as you put yourself out there (ex. Youth Groups, 4-H, book clubs), it’s not much different than how everyone else makes friends.  The only difference is you don’t go to school with them every day and sometimes I think that’s a good thing.

4.  There’s no drama
FALSE.  I literally have to restrain myself from laughing whenever people say they think there’s no drama when you’re homeschooled.  We live in a drama-prone world where no matter where you are there’s going to be some type of drama- unless of course you live under a rock.
I remember when I was younger and I had just started middle school.  I had such high hopes and I thought once you got to middle school that life would be so much fun and it would be like in the movies where I’d hang out with friends all the time, go on fun trips together, etc.  I really can’t explain what my expectations were but I never thought it would actually be completely different than my vision.
            Looking back, I have a lot of regrets of things I wish I hadn’t done, people I wish I never would have spoken to, and all the different ways things could have gone better.  Every day I think about how I wish people from middle school could see me now and see how far I’ve come.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned, though, it’s that the best thing to do is let go and move on.  It’s a hard principle to learn but you’ll gain so much if you apply it to your life.

5.  You never leave the house
Once there was a week where it felt like I was only home to sleep.  However, people seem to think that we don’t have any kind of life outside of school which is not true at all.  Honestly your life is what you make out of it so there’s always the option to never leave the house but I would probably lose my sanity if I stayed home all the time.  I think it’s important to put yourself out there in the outside world because there will definitely come a day where you absolutely can’t be in your room all day long.

6.  People are homeschooled because they got expelled
This assumption comes straight from what someone said to me just the other day.  We were talking and they said “I think some people are homeschooled because they got expelled from school.”  What?!?!  I have yet to meet anyone who is homeschooled due to that reason but I suppose it’s always possible.  I had never even thought of that before, which is why I wanted to include it.  So now I’m going to be insecure when I tell people I was homeschooled because what if people assume that?

7.  That homeschoolers don’t get to go to college
Again this is something someone said to me awhile back but I’ll never forget it.  If homeschoolers didn’t go to college, how would they get jobs?  Our economy would literally be failing if for instance everyone was homeschooled but we couldn't go to college.   Surprisingly, homeschoolers are more often accepted into colleges than schooled applicants.  Why?  Because homeschooled students spend more time studying what they are interested in rather than being forced to study the same things as everyone else.

So yes, we do get to go to college.

            Well that wraps up this post!  I hope maybe this provides you with a better understanding of what being homeschooled is like and that we’re not all the weirdos some people make us out to be.  Make sure to stay tuned for next Wednesday for part 2 of #HowISurvivedHighSchool.








You Might Also Like

1 Comments

Like My Facebook Page