A short interview with my brother re: home education!

Harry is 20, and has just finished his 2^nd year of a computer science degree at Nottingham University.

Do you feel that home education has given you an advantage over your peers?

The individuality that I have gained from being home educated has given me an advantage, and I feel that it has opened up my creativity as well. I think it has given me a definite employability status, as it is something different that employers tend to pick up on.

You only did 6 GCSE’s-was this a problem when you entered college?

To undertake my 4 A Levels I only needed 5 GCSE’s that included maths and English, so the college had no qualms in taking me on. I found it slightly ridiculous when I talked to the friends I made at college about the mountains of GCSE’s they had, some 13 or 14, as only had less than half that they had! However, at college it didn’t matter as most people there were in college because they chose to be, and pretty much everyone was interested and motivated within the lessons as much as I was, so it made no difference.

How did you feel entering college aged 16?

I really enjoyed the whole experience of my A Levels. It was new and interesting, and I really liked taking the subjects I was really interested in, to a new level as my studies were more in-depth. As for the social side, I liked meeting the new people and making more friends, but I still enjoyed, and do now, keeping in touch with and meeting up with my home-ed friends that I’ve known for years. The only problem was that I had to get up early for college! Overall I had a very positive experience, and I’m glad I entered college to complete my A Levels.

If you could pass on something to others about home education, what would it be?

The great thing about home ed is that you can learn as many different things as you like, which helps you to work out what you’re really interested in. It made me realize what I wanted to do in life, that I wanted to explore graphic design and computing, and home-ed helped me discover and explore it a lot at a younger age than I would probably have in school. It also inspired my creativity as we did a lot of drawing and painting throughout my childhood, which I think has definitely influenced the way I think and look at the world today.

Ballet.

I have just finished my Grade 8 ballet exam. It feels like the end of an era, entering a world where I don't go to ballet class every week. It's going to be strange, and it is already very sad. The tears afterwards were not because the exam went badly, on the contrary, but because we will dearly miss the dancing, the laughing and the friendship. We will miss our lovely teacher, the principle, who continues to put her heart and soul into teaching after all this time. And we will miss out other teacher who has had years of doing our hair and preparing us for exams as well as teaching and consoling us when we feel down. I will also miss the pianist who always makes sure that we are on the beat and ready to begin. He shed a few tears himself today, as he said goodbye to us all. I will also miss the ballet studio that has the two frustrating pillars in the middle of the room that you have to space yourself around, and the old photographs of performances that hang on the whitewashed walls. 

I will miss the gratification of trying hard and completing the grades. When you complete a ballet exam each year, no matter what the result, you always feel a great sense of pride and achievement that you got yourself to this level, and that you have performed for a London examiner and proved to her that you can do it. Thirteen years down the line and I can't imagine my life without it, but I'm sure I'll get used to it...eventually.