What about college?

Twenty years ago this summer, I took our daughter to the doctor for her five year old check up.  He asked her about kindergarten and she proudly answered, "I'm homeschooled."  And then he asked me "How's she going to get into university?'

Well, twenty years later, I'm proud to say that she not only made it in, she completed a professional degree and is working in her chosen field.  She has a passion for helping people and making a difference in her community.  And until her first day of college, she had only her parents as her teachers.

Yesterday was Kaylin's convocation from the University of Calgary, with the degree of Bachelor of Social Work.  It's a powerful moment for any parent, watching your child receive that recognition of the scholarship and effort that has equipped them to be awarded a degree.  For a home educating family such as ours, it's an additional affirmation that the years of working with that child did prepare her for the rigors and challenges of advanced education.  I felt like cheering as we watched her make her way across the platform.  I wiped a tear away as her name was read aloud.

Twenty years ago, I told our doctor that when Kaylin was ready for university, there would be a way for her to be admitted.  It was a statement of both faith and audacity, an answer that surprised me even as I said it.  Today I can look back and see it as truth.  I am so proud of the woman that that little girl has become.  And I am both proud and grateful to have had such a central role in so much of the learning that has taken her there.