by Roman Mattus

My name is Roman Mattus. I am fifteen years old and I have been home schooling since sixth grade. Some people wonder why kids decide to leave school and do their studies at home. Well, here is my reason:

When I began school it was hard for me, leaving my normal home life and such. Of course I got used to it. Later I actually became quite a popular person, always with the "in" crowd. It was so much fun for me that I thought school was the best thing in my life. I had lots of friends.

Four years later I had to move to Washington because my dad found a better job there. As soon as I started school I found it was quite different. All my attempts to blend in failed. I was lucky if I had one or two people to talk with. All my friends were in Oregon, and it was hard on me not to be able to spend time with them. You must be thinking that it would have gotten better eventually. Wrong. It only got worse. I became an outcast, having only my own company to be around.

A year later when we moved back to Oregon, I was, of course, happy that I was home and back to my normal school. But I discovered something else - the "in" crowd had become the same as the kids in Washington. They dressed differently, which I thought was fine. But when I continued dressing my way I was made fun of by everyone. So even back home I was an outcast.

After trying several schools I finally came to my mother and told her how bad things were, and how sad I was. Then, to make things worse, my best friend (for seven years) moved without even telling me. That hurt me so bad. I got depressed and just laid around all the time, pretending I was sick. About six months later I was introduced to home schooling: my light at the end of the tunnel. I used to think I was the only one that got treated like this but I learned that many people were like me. My life got better and I was so much happier. Life, once again, was good for me. And my previous experience had made me stronger and smarter. I learned that it was their loss and my gain. After awhile I made special friends who I KNEW would never abandon me.

It gets easier. Trust me.