A reader writes me from the Cayman Islands:
Hello Blake! My name is Harrison, a 16 year old kid who happens to take a lot of photos, read lots of interesting books, skateboard with a lack of skill, strum a guitar, and keep his mind flowing with questions, thoughts, and conversations. Hope you can at least take the time to read this, if not respond.
I’ve been meaning to email you for awhile now, I just didn’t know what to say exactly. Well, here it goes..
As a young kid, I would say I was a very imaginative, creative, and questioning child. I did very well in school and I loved reading to the maximum, reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone at age 5.
I got my first skateboard, a toy one, at age 5 as well. Only until I was about 10-11, did I get serious about skateboarding. At 12 years old, I entered the materialism and attitude of the negative image of skateboarding. Element, Vans, Zero, Birdhouse, Baker, DVS…. I wanted all the names. “Learning is lame”, “authority sucks”, “I’m a rebel skateboarder” were thoughts that crossed my mind.
I never thought anything of schooling, I thought there was no other way to get an education, and kids who home-schooled had no social lives and were sheltered from the “horrible” world around them. It wasn’t until I moved out of the country, that I realized that this was just a slight hoax, I realize some people do, but many more unschool.
My dad found a propane job out in the Cayman Islands, and of course, as a family who moved around the state of Texas, we were quick to say yes. We moved to Cayman in March 2010 when I was 15. We had applied to a private Christian school here, written a half-hearted essay on the role Christianity had played in our lives (my younger brother James), and when we arrived at the school in person, were shocked. It was very insufficient, so we checked out the other schools..CIS had an insane tuition, St. Ignatius had no room, Cayman Prep was British and it would put me back a year. So now I realized that I could just skip it and go to college. Wow did that make life easier..I’m currently taking basic English and Algebra classes which are pretty easy. Of course I’ll probably grab my GED when I go to visit the States, but I’ve got to wait until the summer.
Now I’m kind of stuck in a rut..I’m researching a couple careers.. Urban Planning, Photography/Journalism, Alternative Energy (Solar, Wind, etc.), Physics, and Philosophy. I’m currently trying to get an internship with Dart; they designed/constructed Camana Bay here, a New Urbanist community. I checked out Idealist as well, and I just emailed Energetica about the age limit for volunteering for them; they are a company in Bolivia that sets up Solar and Biomass energy (continued below)
Other Energetica projects include:
• Researching rural energy use, rural electrification, and isolated energy systems
• Studying energy potential, environmental impact of energy use, and alternative technologies
• Generating information, training, and education of human resources
• Developing management strategies bq.
Are there any careers or fields you might suggest? I have this urge to do something for the world, to make a difference, I guess that’s why those fields interest me..
I’m not sure if you’ve been here to Cayman before but if you ever happen to come to the islands, please contact me because I would really like to meet you.
I am forever grateful that you took the time and effort to write the book that is “College Without High School”. Thank you for opening my eyes to a world of possibilities.
Sincerely, Harrison G.
My response:
Harrison,
Thank you so much for writing. Your e-mail finds me in Arequipa, Peru,
where I’m leading a group of 10 teenage unschoolers around South
America for 7 weeks.
Your description of your early self (up through moving away and
realizing that you could unschool) sounds very similiar to my own
upbringing. When I entered a junior high in 7th grade in Bakersfield,
CA (very much like Texas, being an oil town), I jumped on the skater
bandwagon in an effort to conform and be part of a group. My parents
were compassionate enough to indulge my constant desire for new decks,
trucks, branded clothing, etc. I also didn’t imagine that there was
any other route to education except school.
In other words, you’re the person that I wrote the book for! Someone
said that you only ever write for yourself…so perhaps my book is
what I wanted to have read when I was your age. That’s what delights
me about your letter.
Now, on to your questions.
It sounds like you’re open to exploring many different fields. The key
to getting into a good college is to show them that you took maximum
advantage of the opportunities in your local area (whether Cayman
Island or NYC or rural Texas), and that you created opportunities for
yourself too. You’re already on the path to doing this.
My advice is to jump on any interesting local internship opportunities
(like Dart), even if you’re only half-sure of your future interest in
that field. The process of getting the internship, learning to perform
in it, and getting an insider’s perspective is highly valuable.
When you’ve exhausted local opportunities, then I would find the top
internet resources to indulge your interest in philosophy (lots of
good blogs & essays), physics (Khan Academy!), journalism, urban
planning, etc. Watch as many free online college lectures and TED
talks as you can, and find someone on the island (a current or former
college professor, perhaps) who can discuss these ideas with you.
The international opportunities are challenging to set up but offer a
huge pay-off. Keep researching, probing, begging, and finding ways to
prove that you’re a competent and reliable applicant.
Finally, consider keeping a blog (or other public, online medium) to
record and document your experiments in self-education. Aside from
being a fun way to track your progress, it’s pure gold for college
applications.
Cheers, and best of luck!
Blake Boles