Making the Transition – Home Schooled to College
Here at MBU, there’s a special place in our heart for students who have been home schooled. In fact, about half of our students have some type of home school background coming into college.
That being said, there are both advantages and challenges that previously home schooled students may face in college. Occasionally, home school students think going into college is even more crazy than it is, and they might feel under prepared for all the changes.
It’s easy to look at college and feel that it’s just a little too much to bite off. But, I would say that home schooled students have a unique opportunity to look at college from a perspective that others may not have.
See the Value of a New Environment
Yes, a completely new environment can be daunting. But for some, that transition can be exhilarating. Going into a new chapter of life that involves a strict schedule, new people, and new opportunities to learn can make for exciting days.
When you’re home schooled, interaction with the peers your age has to be intentional. After all, you don’t see you friends every single day at school. So when you’re thrust into the college environment, living with the same people you take classes with and seeing your friends all the time, you can appreciate the godly encouragement and camaraderie that naturally comes.
Take Initiative
There are many different patterns for home schooled students these days, and your experience might look completely different from everyone else on campus. However, one attribute that many home schooled students have is initiative.
After all, one of the best aspects of being home schooled is the flexibility. You can do your work on your time and excel at your own pace. But you also need initiative to get your work done all by yourself. Oftentimes, home schooled students learn how to teach themselves and “figure it out” when they have a problem.
You can translate that initiative into your everyday life at MBU, and it will go a long way to helping you throughout your college career.
Use Time Management
While you’re home schooled, you’re on your own schedule. That changes drastically when you come to MBU. Between classes, chapel, devos, work, extra-curricular, and church involvement, things get crazy.
While forming to a new schedule might be difficult, apply the same principles you used before college to go everywhere and get everything done on time.
Jump In
Let’s be real – it’s easy for us to make things bigger and harder in our minds than they actually are. I think the same things goes for the transition to college. Yes, college is hard. Yes, it presents us with new challenges. But, it’s easy to get the hang of things when you get going. As long as you manage your time, and you’re willing to ask for help, you’ll actually find that it’s not as bad as you think. So, give it a try. Throw yourself into it, ask questions, embrace the tough days. Go ahead, jump in with all you’ve got.
If you’re ready to jump in, apply or learn more about our degree programs.