Growing up, I had heard of homeschooling. One of my best friends homeschooled, although it was in the sit-at-the-desk-getting-assignments-from-your-parents type. But it never occurred to me that that was something I could do, or would even want to.

In ninth grade I read a book called Ishmael by Daniel Quinn (which by the way is an amazing book that you should read). Two years later, I read the sequel, My Ishmael, which said a lot about unschooling. It was all the things I'd been saying for years, like that we were only in school so we wouldn't be out on the streets, and more, like the fact that high school was made mandatory after WWII to handle the huge numbers of people entering the job market. For a few months I sat in school miserably, wishing I wasn't there.

Then, on a list of books related to Ishmael that I found on the web, I saw the book The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn. I immediately went out and bought and read it. I was amazed. It said a lot of the things that My Ishmael had, but more, and gave information on how to quit school and how to find resources to learn on your own.

Then came the hard part: convincing my parents. Initially, they were interested, but said that because I was already near the end of my junior year, it was really too late. I sulked, but then began work on doing an independent study program at my school (which was an independent Quaker school). But after a few weeks of frustrating meetings with a few teachers, trying to figure something out, nothing seemed to work out, and by the end of that summer I was faced with the prospect of having to do another year of regular school.

Then I remebered an article I had read about a girl who had unschooled through some program, and had been accepted to Julliard. My friend Cat's dad had been the girl's violin teacher, and got some information on the program, which is called The Learning Community, and helps homeschooling kids in Maryland. I called them and found out about a meeting I could go to. My parents and I went to the meeting, which was held a few days before school was to start. My parents decided this would work, and enrolled me right there. I took a break for while and did nothing, and then began working on teaching myself.

After a year of unschooling, I recieved my diploma from The Learning Community. I spent another year "off" from schooling, although I continued to learn on my own, and am now at Northland College. Even though I'm no longer officially an unschooler, the skills I learned for teaching myself will remain with me for the rest of my life.