Homeschooled

I was homeschooled my entire academic life. (With the exception of kindergarten and 3rd grade.)

I genuinely HATED it with a passion. I was not created to sit in a home all day with no social activities to look forward to. It was dreadfully boring. On gosh it was DREADFUL. However, as an adult in my 30s… I can honestly now say I am so grateful I was.

I was protected from bullying, drugs, etc. I don’t have body image/confidence issues because I didn’t have to compare myself to other girls or be teased for anything. I was able to maintain my innocence well into my late teenage years because I wasn’t surrounded by students talking about things they shouldn’t be talking about until they are an adult.

But more than any of that, it forced two great things upon me.

1. I had to learn to be creative to keep from losing my mind of boredom.

2. I had to learn to “figure it out” most of the time.

These two things play such a huge role in who I am as an adult now. The creativity I possess definitely stems from being homeschooled and having to use my imagination and the artistic side of my brain more.

The internet was the big thing when I was 15 years old. I begged my parents to get it. And when we finally got dial up AOL, I was ecstatic!! Finally something to do to keep from going nuts of boredom! I immediately taught myself HTML coding and learned how to make my own websites at 15. This all came from my creativity but also from my “figure it out” mentality. Because of this, I was able to get a full time job at age 16 at a local internet company as the assistant webmaster. I was the youngest person working there. Everyone else there had gone to college and were in their 30s. (And if you’re wondering how a 16 year old was able to work a Mon-Fri full time job… it’s because being homeschooled you can school yourself whenever you want! And thanks to my grandma for driving me back and forth every day!!)

The curriculum we used for my education was very self taught. So I spent most of my time alone, in my room, or wherever.. schooling myself. My mom was always around of course if I had a question about something. But I definitely did most of it myself and because of this I adapted a “figure it out” self sufficient mind.

I didn’t have teachers and other people around to give me all the answers. If I needed or wanted to know or learn something, I had to figure it out myself. This has truly impacted my life in huge ways. I’ve been able to accomplish and do so much because I don’t rely on others to teach me things. I am able to “figure it out”.

Because of this I have started and run a very successful business now for 6.5 years without going to college or business school. I never read a book on photography or business. I figured it all out on my own. I worked hard at it. Self taught.

I have also started a brand new retail business that will be launching soon. I did all of this on my own. I set up the business logistics, designed and coded the website, designed all graphic design and marketing/packaging materials, do my own photography and filming, etc. I am able to do it all because I learned to be self-sufficient. Because I was homeschooled.

I realize homeschooling isn’t for everyone. However it truly has very positive affects if done right. My only advice to anyone considering it: make sure your child or children have plenty of extra curricular social activities to participate in. This is uber important to their development as well.

I simply wanted to share how positively it helped me. Yes, I loathed it while I was going through it… but once my parents put me into social activities at age 14, I was much happier and didn’t hate it nearly as much.

I am genuinely grateful for it. So thanks mom and dad. : ) Sorry for fighting you on it sometimes.

Mini-Courtney