Why I Chose a Secular College Over a Christian One

In the middle-class conservative Christian subculture that I've been born into, college is nigh a given. Going to a Christian college is highly, highly recommended unless you want to become a partying relativist who makes Cheese-Whiz towers in his or her spare time.

Thus when I chose to go to a local community college I did it to save money and perhaps to be a rebel.

But after a few weeks of commuting to classes (look at experienced me  :P) I think even if I did have the money to pay the steep admission rates of a Christian private school, I would still make the same decision in a heartbeat. I know this will come as a shock to many, so here are some of my reasons (in list format, of course, because my brain is too fried right now for a logical sequence of ideas):

1. Exposure

My college English professor is a somewhat angry liberal who pushes the PG-13 rating in every class, and I wouldn't have it any other way. As a homeschooler I haven't had much interaction with the rest of the world except for online, and it is SO different in real life. I think going to a Christian college would have been nigh similar to homeschooling because I would still be around people who have the same general beliefs and language and boundaries, whereas here I can practice appreciating and learning from people who are vastly different from myself.

2. Faith

Even thinking about God in college is SO HARD. I've realized that for my whole life I've been just going with the flow around like-minded people.

3. Practicality

Now for the obvious: this college is much cheaper than any private college. Not only that, but here I can actually major in the subject that I love the most: music. And the professors and students are all plugged into my hometown community, which means that getting a job in music will (hopefully) be relatively easy. Also the professors here are amazing at what they do, and chosen specifically for their abilities rather than for their religious background.

In conclusion, I figure that I might as well pay for challenging and practical lessons in my area of study than for a Christian community that I'm already plugged into for free.

So there you have it! A condensed version of my current thoughts.

*ducks a barrage of Bibles and VeggieTales DVDs*

What do you think about going to a Christian college? Feel free to disagree!

Back-to-school something-or-other

That's the reaction of most of my friends to the beginning of another school year, but personally I'm always super excited until one or two days into the school week, and then I realize that this school year is just as hard as the previous ones if not harder. So I basically have the same reaction of everyone else, just delayed.

Sorry, I really don't know where to go with this because I just wanted to get a post out for the beginning of school, and I'm super tired right now...

Oh yeah, I should talk about procrastination. That's the biggest problem I have with homeschooling--after I've been doing math for five minutes I usually end up thinking "Oh, I should just go check my email for a sec..." and I end up going on YouTube, Pinterest, and essentially everything except my email.

Then the vicious cycle repeats.

This being my final year of high school, I want to use it to defeat the habit of procrastination and to get used to controlling my own schedule. So I taped these slides on the window by my desk (from a guy who gave a TED talk on procrastination--highly recommended, but I'm too tired to add a link--you can find it):

It's a good point, because when I'm procrastinating whatever I end up doing tends to be pointless and contaminated by feelings of dread and guilt. It really makes no sense.

So yeah, on that happy note, have an amazing school year! Or if you're not in school, have an amazing rest of 2016 because that's how normal people count their years.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go faceplant on my bed.

Oh, and if you have any thoughts on school, procrastination, or hedgehogs, feel free to comment!