Home-schooled students adapt to college living

Students at Truman come from many different backgrounds - local towns and big cities, some from across the ocean and some directly from Kirksville. And while many come from either a private or public high school before arriving at Truman, some students follow a different path that literally is closer to home.

"The home-schooled student population is growing," said Dawn Howd, assistant director of admissions. "It's becoming common at Truman."

One academic challenge for home-schooled students involves not having a professional counselor to guide them as students at public and private high schools do.

"Many home-schooled students do dual-credit programs," Howd said. "They have to ask, ‘How do you make a home-school transcript?' With no high school counselor, the parents help the students with that."

Aside from undergoing a different type of academic lifestyle, home-schooled students also must adjust to a different type of social environment, but even that hasn't been the struggle that many expect.

"There's a misnomer there that students who are home-schooled don't have the socialization of public school students," Howd said. "I don't think they should be treated differently."

As the home-schooled student population continues to grow, the common misconception of home-schooled students is that they might have disadvantages in college. These students might have a different educational environment than students with a public or private school experience, but that doesn't mean they miss out on any of the academic or social benefits that public or private-schooled students have.

Sophomore Tim Weeks was home-schooled from kindergarten through his senior year of high school, but he doesn't let his home-schooled background affect his college experience at Truman. In fact, he said he found home-schooling was good preparation for college life.

"It's a little different, but that'd be the same for any new college student," Weeks said. "I haven't had any issues adjusting. Home-schooling is similar to the college atmosphere. How you get your work done is up to you, so there's a lot of freedom."

From an academic standpoint, Weeks said he was prepared for college.

"I knew from day one - when I read the syllabus ­- I knew that I wasn't behind academically," Weeks said. "In fact, I felt a bit over-prepared."

Although Weeks didn't participate in the same social situations as other Truman students during high school, he still feels comfortable interacting with other students.

"I know that you're around friends more in college," Weeks said. "So it's similar to high school with the social aspect."

Nicol Corcoran, Centennial Hall director, is familiar with home-schooled students, both from her undergraduate years and through her work at Centennial Hall. She has supported students from all kinds of academic and social backgrounds.

"From my experience, I'd say that they transition similarly to other students," Corcoran said. "Those [students] who I've worked with generally are looking forward to change, both academically and socially. But still, there is discussion between staff when approaching new situations and students with different backgrounds, so we speak to students casually."