Daniel Glenn attended CHESS from 2012-15 and is a recent graduate of Christopher Newport University. The author or editor of several articles about the Civil War era and American legal history, he now studies at William & Mary Law School. 

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I remember sitting in my first college class with my leg jiggling nervously under the desk. My high school education looked a lot different from the rest of my classmates’. As I took out a crisp college-ruled notebook, I wondered if I was prepared for this new academic environment.

Five years later, I can report that homeschooling prepared me for a fulfilling academic career. As I look back on my high school years, I am grateful to CHESS for giving me a robust high school education. There are many ways in which the co-op setting prepared me for college and beyond; below are five. 

1. Customizable Curriculum 

CHESS’s structure struck a balance between structure and flexibility. I was not forced into a standard curriculum. Rather, I was able to take the classes I needed to supplement my independent coursework. When math and science caused me particular difficulty, I learned them at CHESS, and when I discovered my aptitude for other subjects, I was free to study them on my own. The result was a high school education perfectly tailored to my needs. 

2. Flexibility to Pursue Hobbies and Passions

The flexibility homeschooling provided allowed me to pursue various hobbies and passions, some of which produced skills that have since set me apart from other job applicants. Throughout high school, I learned how to shoot and edit videos and produced media for businesses in Northern Virginia, including CHESS. At first, videography was just a hobby, but it has proven relevant in unexpected places. In college, I produced videos for several organizations within the University. Even during an internship at the U.S. Supreme Court, where most of my work consisted of research and writing, I ended up assisting Court staff on a few photo/video shoots. Since then, I have used videography, and other hobbies I nurtured in high school, in almost every internship and extracurricular I have pursued. 

At first, videography was just a hobby, but it has proven relevant in unexpected places.

3. High School Classes, College Schedule

The very schedule of CHESS classes prepared me for college better than a traditional high school would have. Because the first semester lectures were held as little as once or twice per week, those used to having class every day had to adjust to having class less frequently. I was used to having class twice a week and budgeting my time accordingly. 

4. Great Social Environment

I have great respect for those who can lock themselves in a room with nothing but a stack of textbooks and emerge with a mastery of physics or history. At the same time, I found that sometimes I learned more from the social aspects of high school, college, and now, law school, than I did in the classroom. In this way, CHESS supplied an important social dimension of my education. I never experienced bullying or negative peer pressure, but I still had a group of classmates with whom I would hang out in the lunchroom, play card games, and sometimes discuss politics or theology. I still remember debating U.S. international relations with a classmate of mine who now works at a foreign policy think tank in D.C. 

CHESS supplied an important social dimension of my education.

5. Student-Teacher Dynamic

The CHESS learning environment allowed me to build strong relationships with my teachers. The small class sizes allowed my teachers to pinpoint where I was struggling and meet me where I was. When I needed additional help with chemistry, for example, my teacher scheduled time outside of class to ensure I was caught up. My literature teacher’s careful feedback on my papers changed the way I write and prepared me for writing at the college level. My U.S. Government teacher facilitated fascinating discussions about political theory and legal questions. When I got to college, I felt prepared to build relationships with my professors. 

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Homeschooling allowed my parents to tailor my education to my interests and aptitudes, and CHESS helped them do it. It warms my heart to see CHESS continuing to thrive and grow. Because of CHESS, there are many homeschoolers who, sitting in a college classroom for the first time, can say to themselves, “I’m ready for this.”

Homeschooling allowed my parents to tailor my education to my interests and aptitudes, and CHESS helped them do it.