i (17f) was homeschooled until 8th grade and while i’ve adjusted pretty well i think all things considered, i feel like i’ll never be able to make up for the missed years. i was an incredibly lonely kid who never really made friends and bc of how i was homeschooled there would be weeks on end where i didn’t talk to anyone but my parents. now i’m doing a lot better, i’ve improved my social anxiety and i have a few friends at school. i’m not bullied at least to my face and people have told me i seem socially normal/they wouldn’t guess i was homeschooled.
but at the same time i don’t have any of the childhood experiences that bond other people. no middle school or summer camp. i don’t know how to play any games. when i was in Pe the teacher told my mom i’d lied about not knowing how to play kickball, flag football, etc, because she couldn’t believe i’d actually never played games with other kids before. i can’t play card games or mafia. it sounds small but it comes up so often and people always act like i’m so dumb for not knowing simple social things like that. not to mention i’m straight up boring, i have no funny stories because years 0-14 were spent locked in my room. i struggle to make new friends or connections and sometimes i feel trapped by how much i missed out on. it feels like it still dictates my life.
any input or advice definitely welcome.
1 comment
The worst thing about this is not that you were homeschooled and missed a number of experiences. The worst thing is that you believe that this fact reduces your worth, your value to other people.
Yes, it’s annoying to be the only one in PE who doesn’t know the game. But everyone has had the rules explained to them at one point, and now people are explaining them to you, and then you know the game, too. The same with card games. You are still young and you will catch up fast, learning all those things you might (or actually might not) need again in life.
I wasn’t homeschooled (homeschooling is illegal in my country), but in a conservative family, there were lots of experiences I didn’t get to make. I wasn’t invited to house parties by my class mates, I never dated, I didn’t go out to pubs to drink with friends.
But I grew up seeing my cousins relatively often. We had family reunions all the time, for Christmas and birthdays, and we spent two weeks by the sea every summer (while people from my class went to fancy places in Italy or Spain). Think about the experiences you did have, and try to appreciate them. And start collecting and enjoying new experiences from now on.