“Weirdo,” “loser,” “really religious,” “freaks,” “really smart,” “really dumb,” “friendless,” “antisocial,” “too many siblings”- the list could go on forever. Anytime I would tell someone that I was homeschooled I knew what came to mind. Shallow stereotypes have become a world view of kids who do not actually attend a school. Most kids experience going to school for the first time at ages four or five. My experience was a little different. I did not physically attend a school until the age of 14 and of all the times that I could have started, my parents chose to start me in high school. I have seen my fair share of adolescent movies and let me just tell you that high school is NOT a musical. Without even beginning to describe the riot starting …show more content…
Maybe I tried just hard enough to change the status quo of how people viewed us. If you know someone that does fit some of the stereotypes above, that does not define them as a person. When people kept talking about how being homeschooled would probably suck, and they were right. Sometimes it was terrible, but not because you do not have friends or have 50 siblings and your parents are crazy for Jesus. It was because you do not feel like you fit in and that is what teenagers desire most. People used to ask me why I wanted to leave homeschooling in the first place. My answer lacked the drama that they were so eager to hear. I know that they were waiting for me to say that I wanted to be more social or that I needed more friends, but in reality I wanted to create more opportunities for myself. Opportunities that, if I had chosen to stay home schooled, I probably would have never been provided with. Since then I have received more opportunities to advance in my future career. Next time you meet someone that is homeschooled, open your mind to the greatness that could be underneath the stereotypes that you have been surrounded them