How My Homeschooling Education Equipped Me for College

The warm humidity of a Monday morning in late August presses against me as I quietly make my way from the dining hall to the basement of the Science and Engineering building, rolling the classroom number around in my mind. S&E 022. Two days earlier, I snuck a break from Welcome Week to find all my classrooms so I would be well prepared for the first week of college. Now, I marvel at the lush vibrancy of the trees and flowers covering Geneva’s campus, so different from the dark pine trees, majestic mountains, and wide-open spaces near my home. The cool blast of air-conditioning encircles me as I enter S&E, skip down a few steps, and confidently enter the back of Room 022.

A sea of dark blue chairs bolted to the floor and half-filled with students greets me. The chairs slope gradually downward to meet a desk, power point screen, chalkboard . . . and lecturing professor. Panic grips me suddenly. What time is it? Am I possibly late for my first class? I scramble to grab my phone from the side pocket of my peacock-print backpack and check the time. 8:41. But my class doesn’t start until 9:05! A moment later, I back out of the room, sheepishly realizing that the 8:00 class is still in session and that twenty-five minutes early might actually be too early. Fifteen minutes later, a swarm of upperclassmen physics students pour out of 022, and I reenter the classroom, this time with my fellow general chemistry students.

Thus began my first day of college as a former homeschooler. Accidentally pretending to be a physics major is probably the biggest mistake I’ve made at college directly related to the fact that I was homeschooled.

As a senior who will graduate from college with a high view of homeschooling, I want to encourage the homeschoolers out there who are considering college. What are ways in which homeschooling equipped me well for college? Of course, every homeschooling family approaches homeschooling a little differently, so I will be speaking from my own experience, but I believe these insights can be applied generally as well.

First, I grew up with the mindset of “always learning.” In my family, learning was not restricted to subjects such as math, writing, and history, but was extended to everything we did. My younger siblings and I did math problems and wrote essays and voraciously read historical fiction, but we also cooked dinner, washed dishes, played imaginatively with each other, and daily piled on the couch to listen to the current “read-aloud” book from Mama. We sang geography songs as we folded laundry and looked up words we didn’t know in the dictionary. We cleared the table singing history songs and marveled at the wonders of dry ice sublimating from our kitchen sink. Our mealtime discussions included history recaps and politics and Papa’s work stories. Life and learning were beautifully intertwined, and from my parents’ example, I learned to love learning for its own sake, and this has served me well these past four years. College has been an extension of my love for learning rather than a transition from one kind of learning to another.
Second, I learned how to interact with people of all ages through my lifestyle. I grew up in a family of seven. Early on, I learned to forgive and be forgiven as my parents addressed sibling squabbles. I learned to live well and have lasting relationships with my siblings. I took active part in family discussions. I learned hospitable conversation when my family invited someone over. I regularly interacted with people of all ages at church. Since attending college, it has been clear to me that there are quiet and outgoing students from any schooling background, and whatever our personalities, we need community with others. As a quieter person my first year of college, I thrived in smaller groups of people discussing deep questions in a more intimate setting and listening well to others. My brother, on the other hand, has been the life of the party ever since Welcome Week, and he finds joy in knowing the names of most people on campus. So much more than merely our schooling background influences the ways we interact with people. Homeschoolers are not at a disadvantage at college because we weren’t “socialized.” Rather, interacting with others well is a conscious decision and practice on the part of every individual, regardless of past schooling experiences.
Third, I was prepared to manage my time well. As it turns out, many homeschoolers do have deadlines. I was expected to take math, science, and Bible tests on the day Mama asked me to and finish reading literature books by the day Mama named. I also took several online courses during high school, which of course had strict deadlines. Then there were areas of life that had unofficial deadlines. I cared for farm animals for eight years growing up (including three years of milking our dairy goat). Farm chores were definitely a vital deadline — our animals depended on us for food and water. And dairy goats must be milked, or they will develop an infection. There are no snow days when it comes to caring for animals.

Homeschooling helped me learn to manage my time well. Since I didn’t have specific class times, I learned the rhythm of completing assignments on my own and fitting them into the regular patterns of life. I learned to be very flexible. If I had a question on my math problem but Mama was helping a sibling, I might go practice piano or finish another assignment or offer to make lunch. Ultimately, homeschooling taught me how to juggle all the components of life. Someday I’ll have a job, or I’ll be caring for children. Sure, my “assignments” will look different, but the ability to use my time well will be an invaluable tool. Even now, in college, I am confident in my ability to keep track of my classes and all that I am involved in.

Homeschooling taught me to think outside the box, and it equipped me to thrive at college as I carried my love of learning, love for community, and ability to juggle life into a new academic setting.

Sarabeth Schuck ‘25

Opinions expressed in the Geneva Blog are those of its contributors and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official position of the College. The Geneva Blog is a place for faculty and contributing writers to express points of view, academic insights, and contribute to national conversations to spark thought, conversation, and the pursuit of truth, in line with our philosophy as a Christian, liberal arts institution.

Feb 12, 2025

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