Halfway through seventh grade my violin teacher suggested that I try going to public school. This would be a huge change for me as I had previously homeschooled, gone to an extremely small private school or went to a co-op. The Junior High school is larger than the college where we used to live in Tennessee. The decision made I went to school a few weeks later. Going to public school has had a huge impact on me as a person. It has taught me more about the world than I could have ever learned, that I can have my own opinions, school gave me hope. Public school has taught me much about the world. Unlike my other schooling options it does not shelter me from the world. Public school is like a bubble of the world whereas homeschooling was like living in Rapunzel’s tower, extremely sheltered. I have learned so much about people going to school. I have learned that no matter how unkind and careless anyone seems they have something or someone they care about. I know now that I must not assume people are kind and good. Going to public school made me a smarter person, not just in school. When homeschooled I blindly accepted any political or moral opinions my parents gave me. I have found, through being exposed to different opinions that I have vastly different opinions than the ones my parents’ spoon fed me. I am now my own person with my own beliefs. I have many strong political and moral opinions and having people challenge and agree with these opinions has helped me adapt my opinions until they represent my thoughts and ideas.
School has given me hope when I was hopeless. In eighth grade my parents put me in cyber school. The first week I enjoyed it but after that it was horrible. I became a walking zombie I stopped caring. I needed people but I did not tell anyone. That was the worst part, the secrets, the lies. My smiles became forced. I stopped going to classes. I stopped feeling, I became numb. I became hopeless. My parents, they found out in May. They added medication, put me in therapy, put me back in school and that is what helped. Having people other than my family care about me, gave me back hope. I started to want to get better and with help I now am.
School has made me my own unique person. I can have my own opinions and be myself. School has changed me as a person, I am not the innocent child I was in seventh grade but I have learned much and am now a better person. I have learned so much about other people and can empathize with those who are struggling. School gives me an opportunity to be myself that my home does not. My friends gave me the bravery to come out and be true to myself. School has helped me learn who I am and what I believe.
