Thread by @GraceHSullivan

My homeschooling story is complicated by my parents’ entanglement with a fringe religious group, but I was taught that women should NEVER go to school.

I graduate this May with a bachelor’s in Molecular & Cellular biology (4.0!) at the age of 39.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

Like many others, my parent opted for HS because it removed us from society. We had no oversight, no curriculum, no testing. It petered out around the age of 15 when I started working to help our large family make ends meet.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

My “curriculum” consisted of the life skills they thought a godly woman would need:

•Lamaze childbirth breathing techniques
•Veggetable gardening
•Food prep & storage
•Quilting
•Sewing

But one skill turned out to be profoundly useful: I learned to read like crazy.

Eventually my parents grew tired of the experiment & moved thousands of miles away, leaving us teens to make our own way.

I was crippled with a sense of inferiority & uncertain how to do much besides work constantly, trying to pay rent & have food.

#ExposeChristianhomeSchools

I didn’t know anyone who had gone to college. The path to a degree seemed like an unfathomable mystery. I wrestled with the desire to get an education & the shame of wanting one at all.

I finally took the plunge at 34 & was truly terrified.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

It is difficult to express the extent to which I had been removed from society. My parents did not approve of:
•bank accounts
•SS cards
•business licenses
•birth certificates
And didn’t believe in teaching us girls:
•science
•history
•math

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

With that in mind, imagine the obstacles in place for a 17 year old who is suddenly parentless & scavenging for food out of grocery store dumpsters. It is very hard to make a way in society when you’ve been raised so completely off the grid.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

I didn’t know how to be like other people, but I had reading. I could learn new ideas & experiences I’d never been exposed to. I could expand my imagination & develop empathy & begin to poke at the web of ideology that had been my whole reality.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

It’s hard to emphasize enough at this point how life saving it was to start meeting people and making my first friends. I didn’t know how to have friends, or to be a friend, and their patience with me as I processed my experience was beautiful.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

I also credit music with helping me survive that era. I heard art that spoke to my experience, soothed my heart, & let me express my rage, too.

I also started making music. Suddenly I was a woman, on stage, with power & a voice. Priceless.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

But the education part still felt like a missed chance. I’d married young & had children. I felt like my opportunity had passed.

At 34 I walked into the testing center at my local com college. I had no idea of the incredible adventure ahead of me.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

I found mentors. I cannot emphasize that enough. Tacoma Community College treated me with dignity, offered me resources, & never once made me feel shame for being so old and not know what an atom was. Or a negative number.

I excelled at @tacomacc.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

I jumped into the many leadership development opportunities they offered. I learned how to apply for scholarships. I kept getting A’s. Me. The woman who claimed to be bad at math her whole life. It was a coping mechanism to try to hide my inadequacy.
#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

I was named the Ellen Pinto Outstanding Student of the Year in 2015, Biology Student of the Year in 2016, & Chemistry Student of the Year in 2017. I earned my hs diploma & my associates of science degree.

Then I started winning bigger awards.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

I believe the main factor behind the accolades was because of my drive to help the students around me who felt overwhelmed, inadequate, & like they didn’t belong. Like me.

I wanted EVERYONE to know that they belonged. If I can do it, everyone can.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

In 2017 I was named a member of the All-Washington Academic Team & became a Coca-Cola Silver Scholar, 1 of only 50 students in the nation. It was the highest national honor anyone at @tacomacc had achieved. I traveled to Nashville to receive it.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

Tomorrow I’ll start the first day of my final semester at @univpugetsound. I’m a scientist & have experience researching marine microbiology.

I’ll be the 1st in my homeschooled family of 9 to earn a bachelor’s. I’m 39.

It. Is. Never. Too. Late.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

I also recorded a new album & put it out last October, because music will always be part of who I am. It is very good.

Music, math & science, reading, friends & mentors: these made all of the difference on my journey.

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

I’ll end by thanking the rest of you for sharing your stories on here. It meant so much, even now, to remember that I’m not the only one who had the challenge of overcoming a non-academic & socially isolating hs upbringing.

Ps, therapy saves. 💕

#ExposeChristianHomeschooling

Well I guess I’ll add a picture of me with my most recent research at @univpugetsound. Yay! Microbiology is so incredible.

Thank you all for reading along & for the kind words. Here’s to being lifelong learners & thriving in the face of adversity! 💗

And heck, here is my album. If you like powerful-sexy-woman dance music with confidence and hooks for days, this is for you.

itunes.apple.com/album/id143686…

My Alma Mater speaks! 💕 Thank you for everything, @tacomacc 🔬 📚 🧠 🎓

https://twitter.com/tacomacc/status/1087758096137515009?s=21