Home educated students reflect on the transition to college

By: Zion Sherin

Contributing Writer

There were 79 home educated students at Hudson Valley Community College, as of the 2018 fall semester, according to Dennis Kennedy, Director of Communications. Which is .72% of enrolled students.

For a lot of home educated students, the transition into college life is a completely different change than for more traditionally schooled classmates.

Coming to Hudson Valley Community College was, for many, their first time in a more traditional classroom. Having the opportunity to talk to professors after class and being able to partake in clubs and sports was a new experience.

Benjamin Restaino, a senior in the business administration program, member of three clubs and a student senator, was home educated.

“I was in high school and I was homeschooled, so I never had the opportunity to really be in any clubs,” Restaino said. “When I got to Hudson Valley [Community College], I wanted to make the best of my education.”

Being a home educated student myself, I was very excited to partake in clubs and joined the Entrepreneurs Club, Table Tennis Club and Investment Club, along with running for a student senate position.

“The adjustment from homeschooling to Hudson Valley [Community College] was pretty smooth,” Robert Carr, a freshman engineering science major, said. “I had taken college courses online, along with AP courses my last two years of home education that prepared me for the college workload.”

Home educated students said the classes at Hudson Valley Community College were about as hard as they expected and that they found the transition smooth.

This showed when looking at these students’ average GPA, which was 3.31, with 30 of the 79 students having a 4.0.

However, according to these students, there are clear differences when it comes to their home education compared to their present education at Hudson Valley Community College.

Some differences include early class times or daily commutes, not being able to listen to music and not wearing pajamas until noon.

Another similarity among the home educated students was an appreciation of being able to talk to professors along with classmates on a daily basis.

Although the majority of the students said they didn’t have a regular classroom setting, some said they got together with other home educated students in a learning environment at least once a week.

“While I was in high school, I attended a local homeschool cooperative that met weekly,” Restaino explained. “I was able to meet other students my age who were home educated and take classes in economics, science and literature, taught by fellow students’ parents who were educated in said subjects.”

Students’ reasons for going to Hudson Valley Community College had more to do with the school than the fact they were home educated.

“I went to Hudson Valley [Community College] because it was a very financially smart decision,” Carr said. “I had the test scores to get into RPI but there was not a doubt in my mind that [here] was the overall smartest decision,” he said. “Also, going to Hudson Valley [Community College] didn’t pose as much academic pressure.”

Some words that students used to describe their home education experience included: fun, harder academically, time management and unique.

Being home educated myself, I often get asked: If you could go back in time would you want to be home educated still?

Some students, like Carr, would like to be home educated up through high school. According to him, he was able to graduate from high school early. Meanwhile, others would prefer to be home educated until junior high.

However, all the students agreed that there were benefits to having an education at home.

Overall, home educated students at Hudson Valley Community College have adjusted well both inside and outside of the classroom.