Youth Should Never Be A Barrier To Learning.
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The Early Entrance Experience
Testimonials From Those Who Have Lived It
This page contains observations and remarks regarding the
National Academy of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering
Comments below are sorted with most recent submissions first.
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Skipping the senior year of high school isn't for everybody. In fact, it isn't for most people. Nine times out of ten, when I explain to someone what I did for my senior year of high school, I am met with the exclamation, Why would you ever want to do that? The answer is as obvious to me as the question is to the person asking it. Not everyone's high school experience is the same, and, for some select students, being given the opportunity to skip their senior year is a godsend. Some people criticize programs like NAASE. They say that skipping their senior year robs students of important social growth. I find this statement to be quite ironic. Looking back, I realize now that growth--mental, spiritual, and social--was the primary reason I needed to leave. Even though my school did not offer many opportunities in the area of academics, I did, for the most part, enjoy many of the upper-level classes. Although there were no Advanced Placement (AP) courses, the biology and chemistry courses were taught as if they had been AP, and the math program was excellent as well. I tested out of the sophomore English class and took the senior writing course instead. I loved it. I learned how to stay up into the wee hours of the morning analyzing literature that I never enjoyed reading in the first place. It was a challenge in diligence and sleep deprivation. My English teacher got me involved in theater and agreed to teach me through independent study my junior year. In fact, what I most remember and appreciate about my high school are the individual teachers who always took time for me, whether it was to talk about life and current events, or to ponder the wisdom of Far-Side calendars. There were many times, though, when school bored me, and I felt like I was being held back from accomplishing what I could. I felt suffocated by my situation, and was agitated that there were people who thought that I belonged where I was. I lacked friends who I related with on any level beyond the superficial. I see now that this is the reason I buried myself so much in my studies. At the end of my sophomore year, I planned out my junior year and found that I would be only half of a credit away from graduating. NAASE did not enter into the picture until my TAG counselor gave me a copy of a Vision newsletter outlining the details of the program. I was doubtful at first, I had reservations about jumping into a program when I did not know what would be expected of me, but I applied, trusting that if I was not right for the program, I would not be selected. When I was accepted to NAASE I was filled with both a sense of anticipation and of apprehension. I was excited for the upcoming challenge. I looked forward to an academic environment where I could grow in knowledge and feel as if my life were moving forward as opposed to the stagnancy I had previously felt. I could not wait to meet people who would be coming from somewhat the same background as myself. At the same time, I feared that I would be inadequate for the program. I could not help but think that everyone else in the program would be a genius of rocket-science IQ who was reciting the quadratic formula in the delivery room. However, once school started, it did not take me long to realize that NAASE was not an obsession with academics. There was no heavy burden placed on us to perform to a predetermined standard. The only standard was the one that I had set for myself, and it was plenty high. I came to college with my entire life planned out like a business trip. When I found myself majoring in a field of study that I did not care for and was not doing well in, I was really surprised to see how much I struggled with the possibility that I would not be a top student and that my planned-out life was not really what I wanted to do. In a high school of roughly 230 people, it is not too difficult to gain a label. I had not realized, however, how much of this "smart" label had become my identity. I had left high school to get away from a label, only to find that I continued to impose it upon myself. Reorganizing my priorities can become so important as to make a person vain. I chose to focus on my relationships with people and my growth as a person . . . treasures in heaven, so to speak. I would not trade my decision to leave high school for anything. I struggled with many things my first semester, and I loved it. I grew more and learned more from overcoming obstacles in the first two months of college than I ever could have fathomed in high school. Everyone who comes to college must adjust, and the difficulties come in different areas for different people. I am thankful that I was given the opportunity to go through it when I did. I was ready for it, and I needed it. I needed life to tap me on the shoulder and ask me to think about where it was that I wanted to spend my time. It is a decision that everyone has to make, and I am satisfied with mine. |
- Rachel Hoftyzer, Student |
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This page was last modified 21:32 Saturday, January 14, 2006
