Text Box: There are currently over two million high-school homeschoolers in the United States, and the number has been increasing at a rate of about 15 to 20 percent annually for the last 15 years. Homeschooling provides many benefits that are not available to students in a conventional school system, particularly because it enables you to have an individual curriculum to complement your interests, abilities, and learning styles; plus it can make the life of a committed athlete much easier since it allows for a flexible schedule. That being said, homeschooling has its own demands. As a competitive swimmer who has been homeschooled for the last ten years, I have firsthand experience of the pros and cons of being a homeschooled student-athlete. I am enrolled in an independent study program based in California, so even though I am technically homeschooled, I do belong to a school, which means that I will receive a diploma upon graduation and I am provided an official transcript of my courses. Being part of an independent study program also means that all my grades are verified by a consultant affiliated with the school. This way, all my grades are validated because my class work and performance are reviewed by a qualified Text Box: person other than my teacher. USA Swimming accepts such grades for consideration for the Scholastic All-American status. I receive grades based on a conventional 4.0 GPA scale—my mom, who is my teacher, is a tough grader and doesn’t give me a break on late or inadequate work. In fact, she has made me re-write history papers, and even repeat entire chapters of math because I scored badly on the tests. I once had to repeat a chapter and test twice before the third time around when she finally deemed my test score “acceptable”. While my mom provides guidance and direction, much of homeschooling is done on my own. I take SAT's, SAT II's, and AP's just like other high school students. I learn the material on my own and then go to a local high school to take these standardized tests. While students get homeschooled for a variety of reasons, one main reason is the flexibility it provides to pursue sports and other activities during the school day. Throughout my entire time being homeschooled, I've been able to take at least a half-day off once a week to devote to extracurricular activities. For the last two years,

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