Complied by Holly Dayton’13, Lens Section Editor
Every year, the Scroll runs a series of college essays written by the graduating seniors. This year’s seniors are a very talented class who are leaving CCDS to go to colleges all over (and even out of) the country. This is the college entrance essay of Ali Breneman, who will be going to Northwestern University this fall.
Ali’s Essay:
The summer after third grade I wrote my parents a detailed persuasive proposition begging them to home school me. In it I explained how eager I was to learn at a faster pace and pursue subjects and ideas I found exciting, but weren’t covered in class. They were hesitant but told me they would consider it. I persisted throughout fourth grade, presenting petitions, extolling the benefits of homeschooling, and pleading with them, until finally they relented. Thus began my four-year homeschooling adventure.
I can say with certainty that I would not be where I am without homeschooling. Rather than using a structured home school curriculum, my parents entrusted me with the freedom to direct my own studies and teach myself the majority of the material. I wasn’t given lectures or fed lesson plans. I chose the literature and debated its merits over dinner. I sifted through math textbooks asking help only if I couldn’t figure something out. Beyond the traditional academic subjects, I studied singing, dancing, and theater. I was in love with Shakespeare. So I read over half of his plays. I even collaborated with my acting teacher to write a paper analyzing how the differing punctuation in the Arden and Folger Library versions of Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy affected the portrayal of his character. I also chose to study logic. In addition to formal logic, I devoured mind puzzles and eagerly solved brainteasers. Simply, logic taught me how to think – a skill that has proved invaluable in all my current academic pursuits whether it be figuring out a chemistry lab or analyzing a difficult passage in The Road. Most importantly, though, I came out of homeschooling with a passionate love of learning.
Going from studying five hours a day in my pajamas to attending high school seven hours a day plus hours of homework was a huge adjustment. I had to get used to taking tests and learning via lecture. Sometimes, in BC Calculus, I got lost in Mr. Plummer’s tangents, figurative and literal, I didn’t always agree with Mr. Black on issues such as the significance (or lack thereof) of Christo’s wrapping of the Reichstag, and Mrs. Dunn only seemed to assign the most abstruse, depressing books she could find; but Mr. Plummer’s digressions introduced me to fascinating areas of mathematics I didn’t know existed, Mr. Black taught me to think more openly about viewpoints I might not understand at first, and Mrs. Dunn helped me see the virtues of the most unappealing books. I was able to join a theater critic club, compete with the Science Olympiad team, tutor lower-school kids, perform in the school musicals… I absolutely loved it.
High school was one of the best experiences of my life, but it wouldn’t have been the same without homeschooling. The four pivotal years of self-directed learning gave me all the tools I needed to make high school so incredible, and instilled in me the undying desire to know, experience, and discover.
Photo courtesy of lyricsbird.com
