I was homeschooled my senior year of high school during the pandemic. I’ve always wanted to be homeschooled because being in the classroom has been difficult for me. During my years in a traditional classroom, I struggled to focus on my work or my teacher. To understand my lessons and what we had learned so far, I needed to have all my notes and work color-coded and in different sections. My teachers didn’t like that.

For eleven years I felt out of place in traditional classrooms. I was tested for IEP eligibility but never got one. The pandemic hit and I realized that my frustrations in a traditional classroom would only be compounded by “virtual” education. During the end of the 2020 school year, teachers were inconsistent with communication and we did not get any real assignments until the middle of April. I told my mom that I was going to drop out if I had to go through virtual learning during my senior year.

She created a homeschool co-op called Engage Detroit to help families like ours, and to create a safe and fun way of learning for families who felt out of place in the traditional setting. We had the flexibility to cater to students’ specific interests in the study of wide fields. For instance, I had the option to swap a chemistry class for a forensic science class because that’s what I was interested in. It made me happy to learn and it prepared me for college.

I never thought that I was smart enough to get into college. But homeschooling boosted my self-esteem and confidence in learning and I got accepted into Wayne State University with a full-ride scholarship, plus an extra Scholarship for academic improvement. Homeschooling changed my life and I do not know where I would be if it wasn’t for that opportunity.

“Homeschooling changed my life and I do not know where I would be if it wasn’t for that opportunity.”

Proper and comfortable education should be accessible to students and families regardless of ZIP code or family income level. For lots of kids, like me, education is the opportunity for a successful life. I don’t want my sister, nephew, or any other kid to go through what I did for eleven years just because of a lack of opportunity. Under no circumstance should students be denied access to all forms of education. The students of today are our future leaders and presidents, and we have to educate them the right way.