The Pros and Cons of Online High School.}
Hello, reader.
You may or may not know who I am, or what my blog is. But if you found this entry, hello. I wrote this for you, and you only!
Hah. Kidding. I don't even know you. But I do know that if you've found this specific entry of mine, then it means you're either in online school, or about to enroll in online school, have a child in online school, or are just distantly remotely interested in online school. And I'm sure you've been looking for some outside opinions of online school, or if you're interested in it, are looking to see how kids in online schools like it. I know I was.
Before I started online school, and when I was just starting it at the beginning of my sophomore year, I had
never even heard of the concept of online school before. Seriously. I didn't know anybody involved in online school, I never heard or saw advertisements for them, I hardly even understood what it was. And before I started, I wish I had someone to tell me all of the quirks, challenges, and all-around aspects of online schooling. Well, you found me. So I'm your girl! My name is Sarah, nice to meet you.
My goal here is to not glamorize my good experiences and not exaggerate my bad ones. My goal is to tell you, random Internet citizen, my complete honest opinion and experiences of my online school career. There will be plenty of people that don't feel the same way I do, and I can't claim to know how other people feel about their online school experience. I will, however, tell you completely and honestly how I feel about it, and you may interpret them as you may.
So, let's start with the Pros, shall we?
- First, the most obvious: Pajamas. Oh, yes. The most obvious and probably single-handedly the best aspect of online school. Wake up in the morning, have some breakfast. Get dressed. No? Don't feel like it? Well, good news! YOU DON'T HAVE TO. No muss and fuss of getting ready in the morning whilst being half awake, trying to flat iron your hair without dropping the iron on your face or accidentally squeezing Neosporin on your tooth brush instead of toothpaste. (That hasn't happened to you? Just me? Oh okay.) Just get up, eat, and dive in. Plus, you can sleep in later than kids who go to brick and mortar. (That phrase is a homeschooler thing. You'll get used to it.) Mornings are 70% percent less painful. Except Monday mornings, I can't promise anything about Monday mornings.
- Breakfast? Lunch? Real meals? I forgot those existed. See, when I went to a brick and mortar school (a private school from Preschool all the way into the ninth grade, to be exact) I was so used to...not really eating until dinner time. What I mean is that I didn't eat a lot of good meals until dinner most of the time. I'd get up for school, rush to get ready for school, and sometimes if I was lucky I'd get to bring a Poptart or dry cereal in the car for breakfast. It would fill me up for a little while, and then from about 9 am on I would be starving to death until lunchtime. In elementary school I packed lunches, but for middle school I got 'hot lunches'. Hot lunches meant nachos from the cafeteria, some candy from the vending machine, and soda. Yeah. Not the best meal. The funny thing is, after I started online school, I actually learned to cook for myself, and I trimmed down a little bit because I was eating healthier. And not only did I trim down, but I started to feel better too, and had more energy. Not that I'm saying that all online school kids can cook, but having those different options at home could end up being much healthier. But onto my next point...
- Hobbies, hobbies, hobbies. Cooking was just one of the hobbies I picked up after I started online school. (Although I remember this once instance during sophomore year when I finished work early one day, and so I decided on impulse to bake a cake. No joke. I baked a cake. And it was delicious.) Finding that I had much more free time during the day than I used to, considering I would finish school work around 12 or so rather than 2 or 3, I would start looking for things to do. Before I knew it, I was reading all the time, which I loved before, but I love even more now. Then, I discovered a love for writing, and I did that in my free time too. And drawing. (In fact, this blog is something I frequented on a lot.) And that's why you see tons of homeschooled kids with crazy talents because we have all this free time to work on stuff that we love to do. And as a result of that, we're not going off and doing stupid, dangerous things just because we're bored. Honestly, the whole time I was in online school, I was never bored. I ALWAYS had something to do, whether it was school work or one of my many hobbies, and honestly there's nothing more fulfilling.
- See a snowstorm in the forecast for tomorrow or the next day? Buckle down today and do today's work, and then do the work for the day that the snowstorm's supposed to roll in. And BAM. Looks like you got a snow day. Do it, seriously. You get the day off in the end, and when you tell people you did two day's work in one, they'll think you're like a prodigy or something. It's effing awesome.
- I took school more seriously. As long as I'd been going to my old brick and mortar private school, I did...okay. Grade wise. Just enough to get by. I never studied, and yet still managed to pass my classes, so I never felt the need to try harder. The curriculum was more challenging than public school would have been, yet, since I'd gone to the private school my whole life, I didn't feel the challenge. It wasn't until I switched to online school that I felt challenged, because here's the thing: You actually have to do the work. Imagine that. And here's what I wish someone would have told me before I started: You don't read your textbook and do the assignments? Nice try. It'll get you through the lessons quicker, but guess what? You don't pass. You fail your quizzes, you fail your tests, and that's that. In brick and mortar, if you're real careful, you can get away with copying your friend's worksheet or homework. But this? Nope. That doesn't fly. Which means you're all on your own and you actually have to...gasp...learn. I can honestly say I remember more of what I've learned in Science and Math in my three years of online school than what I learned through all of middle school and my freshman year. Really.
- More individualized learning. Despite being at home and doing my work by myself, my teachers were always available when I needed their help. 'Teachers?' you say. 'But how could you have teachers? It's all online.' Correct you are, compadre. But the awesome thing about online school is that it's online. You know, where super fast lightning speed email is. And also IM. And they can even be contacted over the phone, if you prefer to do it that way. Some teachers work at a main office, and some work from home (depends on which school you use), but the point is that they're almost always available. I have to admit, when I first started online school, this concept freaked me out a little. Calling and emailing your teachers almost seemed too personal, or too weird, at first. But emailing systems are usually only on the school website, so neither of you are using personal accounts. Also, the majority of the time teachers use business lines for school, so no worries about calling them at a bad time or while they're on the phone with their Great Aunt Gertrude, or something. It's all legit. And they can help you when you need it, right there on the spot, rather than you having to wave your hand frantically from the back of the classroom to get their attention, or, ugh, having to speak up and ask a question when no one else is (I had always HATED doing that. So embarrassing.). Just make sure you get the help when you need it, because if you never ask anyone for help on a concept or an assignment and you need it a lot, that's when things get messy.
- I learned self motivation. One thing I definitely didn't have before online schooling was self motivation. Like I mentioned before, I hardly ever did my work in brick and mortar. If I did do it, it was because I rushed and half-assed through the worksheet at the end of class so I wouldn't have to take it home. Or I got a study hall that semester and rushed through it then, but even then, I wasn't really trying. So after I started online school, I found myself actually wanting to try. So then I did try. And I did really well. And I learned that I was much smarter than I gave myself credit for. So when I did well, I continued to try my best at everything I did for school. Sometimes I didn't do well, and when I didn't, I picked myself up and tried even harder the next time. This gave me a sense of confidence in school that I'd never had before, and now I know that I am smart and I can do well in school. That's why I'm not scared about college work, because I know that if I set my mind to it, that I can do it. And that's more than I could've said after all of my years of my old private school. That's saying something, I think.
- Maturity? Check. Self Esteem? Check. Okay. I don't want to toot my own horn here. But when I think about how I was before I started online school...it's startling. I was so different. And not necessarily in the good way. My self esteem was non-existent. Really. I had none. I was the girl that did everything everyone else did because I felt I didn't fit in. I wore what everyone was wearing, I acted how everyone else acted, I did what everyone else did. I wanted to feel normal, so I did these things so I could feel normal. Except that never worked. Not even a little bit. I still felt inferior to everybody. It sounds so cliche and over dramatic, but honestly? Online school helped me find myself. I had been trying so hard to be everyone else--anyone else but me--that I didn't even know who 'me' was. Being by myself a little bit more often, and learning to function in school without my peers surrounding me all the time, gave me the chance to think about what my goals were, what my interests were, what I liked to do and liked to wear and liked to listen to. It gave me time to think about what my morals where, and what was most important in my life. And not only has that made me a bit more mature, at least more than I'd been at my old school, it's made me happier too. Nothing better than that.
Now for some cons, because as much as I loved my time in online school, believe me, there are some.
- Online School? What is that? How does it work? As soon as you enroll in an online school, prepare to be inundated with questions upon questions from strangers and friends and family members alone. If I could count the amount of sheer times I've been asked about how it even works, I would probably lose count. It's understandable, really. It's a new concept. Who'd have thought that when the Internet was invented in 1989 that by 2012, there would be kids going to school using only the Internet? Pretty amazing if you think about it. (I wonder how common it'll be in another 23 years.) I've been asked if I cheat all the time. I've been asked if it's real school. I've been asked if it's super easy and do I just sleep and watch TV most of the time. (Probably the most common and annoying of all the questions, pretty presumptuous if you ask me. If someone is taking AP Trigonometry online, does that suddenly make it a cake walk compared to if you took it at a public High School? Um, no. Definitely not. I'd like to think AP Trigonometry is difficult regardless of how you take it.) I've also been asked if they're college courses instead of regular High School courses. Sigh. It gets old, trust me. But try your best to be patient and answer them as kindly as you can. (Or even sneakily hidden sarcasm works just as well.) After all, it is 2012. Maybe in another five years or so it'll be more common, and we won't have to deal with these questions as much.
- I won't lie to you. You will be judged. Just as every homeschooled kid since the dawn of time has had to deal with, we're the new breed of homeschoolers. And as soon as some people find out that you don't go to "real school" and do your school work at home, you'll get the look. The look has two forms, and you'll recognize either one of the looks as soon as you first see them. It's either the "Aw, you poor thing, you go to pretend school" sympathy look, or the "hoping-you're-not-a-freaky-homeschooler" look. Also something you'll get used to. Some people really won't care that you're an online-schooler, and others will think it's pretty cool, but the ones that look down on you for it? Who the hell needs 'em. Not you. Because you get to do school in your PJ's and eat cool lunches and breakfasts and get to finish your school day as early as you want. Hah hah.
- Outside life? What is that? What is the sun? Can I eat it? This is one aspect of online school that I didn't get right, and I'm not too proud of it. Sometimes, I could get so caught up in doing well in school and doing what I liked inside that there would be times I wouldn't leave the house for days. Now, this was just me. There are plenty online-schoolers that are super active outdoors and participate in sports and hang out with their friends everyday after school. Plenty. It just so happens that because of the busy lives of my friends, and my lifestyle (I'm not athletic. At all. So sports as an extracurricular in particular was out of the question. And my city doesn't offer many things to do for the public, at least not many I thought I would be interested in.) didn't leave much room for things I could do outside of school and my home. The thing, though, is that I should have tried something new. This is something that I struggled with, because I didn't try anything that would have, if nothing else, gotten me to leave the house once or twice a week. I also didn't have my driver's license, and both of my parents were gone during the day at work. So, because of this, I sometimes spent very long periods cooped up in the house. Guys, take my word for it: get out of the house. Take a pottery class, or a cooking class, or join a public sports team. Something. Don't do what I did. Although I had a lot of other hobbies, none of these allowed me to regularly get out of the house. This is so important. Being in the house for so long can really mess with your head, your emotions, and your general health. Seriously. Parents. Kids interested in online school. From the bottom of my heart, please don't do this. I cannot stress this enough. Keep your life balanced while in online school, and I promise you, there will be nothing better.
- Every once in a while, you will get a bit lazy. Even I, who found all this new found self-motivation with the start of my online-schooling, got unmotivated once in a while. Every once in a while, you'll wake up in the morning and go, 'I think I'll start school in the afternoon today.' Or you'll think, 'This Stats assignment is hard. I think I'll do it tomorrow instead.' or even, 'I want a day off today.' It's normal. I promise. Everyone does it every now and then. Some days you just don't have the steam. But don't make it a habit. Believe me. My Junior year, during the second semester, I had this huge bought of laziness where I hardly worked for two and a half weeks straight. And I paid for it towards the end of the semester, hard, because I was so behind in my work that I completely missed the deadline on two of my finals, got zeros on both of them, and utterly failed Algebra 2, leading me to take it again at the beginning of my Senior year. I also had another huge bought of laziness earlier this year, in the second semester of my Senior year (which I partially attributed to Senioritis, but still). So yeah. Ouch. Don't do this either. Please. You end up feeling unaccomplished and lazy in the end, and it's just not worth it. So yeah, take a day off if you need. But don't take a week off. Still keep in mind what's important.
- You're not a hermit. But it is harder to make friends. If you're like me, you have all of your friends from your old school. And that's awesome. But if there was anything I learned from this, social wise, it's that you find out who your true friends are. Some friends won't stay when you don't go to their school anymore, but the ones that stay are the ones worth keeping. And it is harder to make friends with the kids you go to school with considering...well. You can't see each other. Haha. But depending on your school, they'll make lots of opportunities for you to connect with your classmates. Mine had class discussions, and live lessons in these chatroom/video chat type things, mandatory state testing (yes, you still have to do those!), and also field trips and meet-ups (although I never got to go to any of those, unfortunately). So, this isn't exactly a con, because although it's slightly more difficult, it's not impossible. Just reach out!
So, my friend, I leave you with this: Online School can be different for everybody.
Some just do it for a few years (for various reasons), and some do it for a while, because it really works for them. (Like for instance maybe...Ashley Argota, from Buck and Skinner's Epic Adventures?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRG40vqaLGk )
Some people find it easy, so much so that they graduate early. Some people find it intolerable, and they have to go back to public school or their old school. And then there's every experience in-between. It's different for everyone. But when you start it, just give it a chance. An honest chance. Because, who knows? You might like it. You might love it.
I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first, but eventually, I gave it a real chance. And you know what? It changed my life. For the better. ♥
Good luck!
Sarah
Labels: homeschool, homeschooling, online school, online schooling, pros and cons of online school, school, virtual school, what is online high school like, what is online school
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