Student transitions from living room to dorm room

The stereotypical journey to college begins after four years of high school marked by foot­balls games on Friday nights, hanging out in the hallways af­ter class, and the occasional di­saster in chemistry lab. But for one Roger Williams University sophomore, the pre-college ex­perience was a little bit differ­ent.

If you met sophomore Tim Clarkin, you probably wouldn't guess that he came from a back­ground different than most. You would see a dedicated, friend­ly and knowledgeable RWU community member who fit in perfectly with the campus. Get to know Clarkin a little bit, though, and you will find that he experienced an alterna­tive version of what most think about high school: Clarkin was home schooled.

For many, the first reaction to hearing about a student who has been home schooled is, as Clarkin described, "they are ei­ther unintelligent which is why they have to be home schooled or they are extremely smart. But in both cases, people see students with this experience as socially awkward."

Clarkin not only tells his peers that these stereotypes are wrong, but he proves that his experi­ences have given more him life and academic skills rather than having restricted him.

"I have learned a lot from my educational experiences such as self confidence in my work and the ability to teach myself," Clarkin said. He added that he has the ability at college to in­struct himself from a textbook in the instance that he has to miss a class or wants to look back at a lecture.

Although Clarkin may be one of only a few with a home schooling background here on campus, the number of stu­dents learning at home is grow­ing in the United States. Ac­cording to 2009 data from the U.S. Department of Education, the number of students being home schooled in the United States has grown from 850,000 in 2000 to a little over 1.09 mil­lion in 2004.

As Clarkin described, the ex­perience of a student learning at home varies from household to household. "In my case, my mom would teach me up until middle school and throughout high school, I would have the ability to teach myself, allowing me to focus on interesting con­tent area," Clarkin said.

Along with self-taught classes, Clarkin took community col­lege courses, which would pro­vide him with both high school and college credit for his edu­cation here at RWU. In order to officially meet the RWU's educational standards, Clarkin's local school department sent a letter to the University verifying Clarkin's education.

"A lot of times, people think that I missed out on the high school experience, but I see it as I got to experience both high school and also a unique learn­ing experience," Clarkin said.

Clarkin participated in local sports at the public high school and maintained a relationship with many of the students at­tending school there. Com­bined with his home schooling, the interactions socially with the public school system and his academic experiences, Clarkin said that he feels his transition to RWU was very comfortable due to his sense of indepen­dence and confidence in learn­ing. Currently Clarkin is excel­ling in his academics and along with being a part of many clubs and organizations, he serves as a first year Resident Assistant.