As homeschoolers, we are used to questioning all things.  It’s a privilege; if we had gone to school, we would really have to work on it.  When it comes to the question of college, however, we have to work on it even still.  Somehow, college is seen as the worshipped Door to All Things, no matter your educational background.  Well-meaning friends, relatives, and random people on the street seem first and foremost interested that you understand the important place which college holds in your future existence.

It’s hard to tune this message out and make an educated decision for yourself.  It’s especially hard if you feel like most homeschoolers: like you have something to prove.  You are just as intelligent as anybody else in public school, right?  But maybe the People of Earth would agree with you more on that if you had a degree to show for it. So how do you get back to your roots?  How do you decide, on your own, whether college is right for you?

Well, there are many, many ways, and I would suggest undertaking as many as possible.  Here is a list of some questions and suggestion which I will be elaborating more on in future entries:

Questions to Ask Yourself:

• What would I ultimately want from college? – and answer this as elaborately as possible, in whatever medium of expression you best work in.  As a plus, the answer in this form would be really awesome to send in with your college applications.
• Who should and who shouldn’t go to college? – again, answer this however you want.  It can actually be more eye-opening than the first question and help you really see what your perspective is on college and people you know who have gone or are going.
• What is college all about? – same goes for this.  By this point you may see your answers overlapping in themes, which is good, as it helps you really understand how you feel and what you think about college.

Things to Do:

• Sit in on and/or audit classes – this is super easy to do, and relatively inexpensive, whether you do it through the college or the professor.
• Find people in your “field of study” of choice and talk to them about their work, how they got to their current position, etc.
• Research your “field of study” and other ways to gain an education in it – other opportunities that may be more conducive to your learning style – and take less time and money to boot.
• Shadow, volunteer, create an internship, or get a “lowly starter job” in the same environment as your ultimate career of choice. Not only does this allow you to test it out and see if you would really like that career, but it might ultimately allow you a chance to bypass the “higher education” route by simply getting your foot in the door.

We unschoolers are on an eternal gap year – let’s take the time we need to make this important life decision.  Like I said, I will elaborate more on these Questions to Ask and Things to Do in future posts.