My Home School Legacy

Parents, fellow graduates, and honored guests: Twelve years ago, my parents made a decision which has had a profound impact on my life. To borrow the words of Robert Frost, they chose a "road less traveled by" - the road of home education. In order to chart a course for this unfamiliar journey, my parents together wrote a statement of their objectives. These hopes and dreams, personalized especially for me, were as follows:

1.	To nurture Abigail's relationship to God, our Creator... this relationship, in turn, provides the base for all further objectives.
2.	To instill positive identity and self-esteem in Abigail who is "created in the image of God".
3.	To encourage Abigail to develop character qualities consistent with this identity.
4.	To teach Abigail the intrinsic value of every human life and foster in her an appreciation for all God's creation.
5.	To encourage creative, independent thinking and promote individual excellence in every life situation.
6.	To stimulate Abigail's thirst for knowledge in every academic sphere and oversee systematic learning in these areas: -language arts -mathematics arts -biological, physical and social sciences -the humanities

Today, as I stand before you, I both worship God and honor my parents, because of the realization of these goals is my legacy. I personally know my Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit Who always leads me into all truth. As a result, I also know who I am as a child of God, and I am blessed to be created in His image ~ to create... to choose... to act.

I am continually learning to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as as He cultivates His fruit in me, and the arena of home education has been an optimum environment in which to pursue the qualities of personal responsibility, self-motivation, management of time, and even a sense of humor. I have acquired a deep understanding of the value that God places on each and every human life - from the embryo to the elderly ~ and I am humbled and awed by the complexity and wonder of God's universe.

Further, being educated at home has allowed me the freedom to develop each of the talents God has placed in me - from my aptitude for math to my passion for dance and the arts - while at the same time stimulating me to enjoy even those areas of study which do not come so easily.

Finally, my parents' decision to home school has provided a living, working model of creative, independent thinking which has enabled me to follow in their footsteps instead of the crowd's, to have my character formed from within instead of from without. However, in closing, I feel I must acknowledge one further aspect of my legacy that neither of my parents listed in their statement of objectives... my memories. I have a wealth of treasured experiences to remember for the rest of my life - experiences which most likely would not have occurred had I not been taught at home.

For this rich and abiding home school legacy I am deeply grateful that my parents chose this "road less traveled by"... for me also, "that has made all the difference"