Not Your Typical College Student (Revised)

I started going to school at Delta College when I was 15 years old in January 2010. Granted, I would turn 16 about a week later, but I was in fact 15 years old when I started school that winter semester.

I hated middle school. It was such a huge change from what I was used to in elementary school and I could not deal with it. I think a big part of this had to do with the fact that, since I was in the PAT Program (Program for the Academically Talented) at my elementary school, I was with the exact same group of students for five years. They became like my family. Several of them went to the same middle school as me, but many went elsewhere. Add in the hundreds of new students around us on a daily basis and it was just too much change for me. This led to me missing a lot of school in sixth and seventh grade, and then finally becoming a homebound student in eighth grade. I had a teacher who would come to my house twice a week and give me the homework I was to complete.

My School Experience

I didn't want to go back to regular school the next year, especially considering I would be starting high school. However, my parents did not give me a choice, so I went. I hated it just as much, if not more, than middle school. I had several classes where didn't know anybody or just knew one or two people. I hated those classes in particular. It was eventually decided that I would go to school for half the day and complete the rest of my classes at home. It was like this for the rest of my freshman year. It was not ideal to me, but it worked better than the alternative.

My sophomore year was worse and I began missing a lot of school again. I hated going to school. I felt like I had no freedom and it was hard for me to be around that many people for so long, since I am not a very sociable person, but rather very shy.

January 4^th, 2010 was the last day I went to school at Central High. It was the day after winter break had ended. After one day back, I knew I could not handle it any more. I was done. I knew that I was about to turn 16 and for my graduating class, the legal dropout age was 16 years old. This time and what exactly I said are quite blurry to me, but I basically told my mom that I wanted to drop out of Central and start going to school at Delta.

And that's what happened.

My mom works as a math professor at Delta. Because of this, I get free tuition, which is why this was an option for me. I would not have had this option otherwise – I would have had to suck it up and get through two and a half more years of high school. Sometimes I wonder how things would be different if I had stayed in public high school, but at the end of the day, I'm content with the decision I made.

My mom's office at Delta

Just a day or two after I dropped out of Central, my mom signed me up for my very first classes at Delta. They were both online classes. The tests were in the testing center, which was still in the library at the time. My first semester at Delta went okay. I didn't do great in the classes, but I didn't do terrible, either. I don't think I was fully motivated at the time, which may have caused me to do worse than I could have done otherwise.

For the next semester, spring 2010, I signed up for my first face-to-face class at Delta. I was nervous. It was four days a week and it was a math class. I knew the teacher really well, because of my mom working in the math department at Delta, so I wasn't concerned about that at all. I was more concerned about being around a bunch of college students who all seemed so much older than me. But, as it turned out, it wasn't all that bad. I sat by the same girl every day and she helped me when I needed help. She also thought it was cool that I was the same age as her younger siblings. I ended up surviving my first face-to-face class at Delta and I was so grateful for that.

Since those first two semesters, I have taken classes at Delta in eight additional semesters (including the current one and also including spring semesters). There have been good and bad experiences during this time.

The Good: I got to take a class with my aunt who is also a student at Delta. We took fitness walking together. I was dreading taking that class, but having her with me made it so much fun. I've also had some amazing professors, including some that I liked so much that I have taken their classes multiple times.

The Bad: Whenever other students in one of my classes would find out that I was 16 (or later, 17), it would become a huge deal. After this happened two or three times, I tried to avoid telling people my age. It made me uncomfortable. Additionally, I felt as if people treated me differently once they knew I was under 18. When I turned 18 last year, I was able to blend in with everyone else a little better. This was a welcomed change.

Me working on homework

Since I've been at Delta, I've gone to school every morning that I have class with my mom. Sometimes I'm able to do homework in her office before my classes start, which is nice. It's very quiet so I'm able to concentrate.

The G-Wing entrance, where I walk into Delta every morning

After many years of hating school, Delta changed this for me. I don't hate school anymore. I love going to Delta. I love having the freedom to choose my own classes. I love being able to schedule my classes at the times that work best for me. It has been such a better fit for me.

I will be graduating from Delta after this semester. I'm really excited about that, but I won't quite be finished with Delta. Before transferring to another school, I'm planning on completing a couple certificates, so I will be sticking around for another year or so. I'm very much looking forward to the next year and all that I will learn.