While transferring to high school from being home schooled is difficult, Rachel Briggs began high school her junior year, which is known to be the most challenging year for students.
“I was pretty overwhelmed when I first came, but how couldn’t I be?” Briggs said. “Everyone I talked to told me that junior year is your worst year in high school and there I was stepping into high school for the very first time.”
Although highs school includes a larger aspect of socializing than being home schooled, Briggs realized that the biggest difference was the tests, not the people.
“Obviously I’d taken tests before but I hadn’t needed to take them with a class in a certain place and with a set time,” Briggs said. “Time was the biggest difference. I had to learn to budget it.”
Even though most home schooled students do not have many opportunities to socialize, Briggs met other students who were home schooled through classes she took with them once a week, and through dance which she had five nights a week.
“Most people would think that it was all the people and having to be social that would be most different,” Briggs said. “That wasn’t
the case though. I was fine with all the people and I’m fine with being social just like anybody else.”
Briggs believes that there are many advantages to being home schooled. Students can pick their curriculum, have as much or little time as needed, and go on vacations and field trips when certain locations are less crowded because everyone is in school.
“You are not bound to a specific curriculum like you are in school,” Briggs said.
Despite these advantages, there are also a couple of disadvantages to being home schooled for Briggs.
“Sometimes you get really lazy,” Briggs said. “If you don’t feel like doing something you may just not do it. If your house is distracting and you have annoying siblings, you will distracted and annoyed a lot more often.”
Briggs transferred to Central for many reasons. High school provides her with more options, and she does not have to write her own credits and transcript.
“Homeschooling during high school I definitely don’t recommend as it doesn’t allow you to experience certain things,” Briggs said.
Brigg’s family had been discussing transferring for a while and the decision was finally made when a sports injury left her with nothing to do in the afternoon.
“I believe that being home schooled up until freshman year of high school is perfect,” Briggs said. “That way, you can skip the awkward middle school years and jump into high school when everyone else is jumping in.”