<p>Recently, I came across some advice to read a book called the "Teenage Liberation Handbook" (Amazon.com:</a> The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education: Grace Llewellyn: Books). I read the excerpt on Amazon just yesterday and was inspired to rush out to the closest library that had the book in stock straight from my research internship to the city library at night. I read almost the entire first part of the book on my way home via public transportation... and stayed up until 1:30 AM finishing the second part. I plan to finish the book today. </p>
<p>I instantly related to everything in the book. I knew that school had stifled my pursuit of my interests. For example, I had more than enough credits to graduate at the end of my junior year, except for one English credit, so I had to attend high school for one last year... it couldn't be that bad, right? Wrong. I've slept through my BC Calculus class this year without doing any homework for it and have almost a 100%. I've never gotten lower than a 93% on tests in this class. AP Biology is a joke at my school - we breeze through two units a week with hardly a single student understanding anything. I took Biology to help me understand my Immunology research internship at the NIH, but I feel like the internship is all that's allowing me to succeed in this class (also the fact that for some reason Biology seems ingrained into me... I got a 750 on the Bio-E SAT II without ever taking a real bio class or reading a bio book). I usually sleep through at least one period in this class and only one of my test grades has been less than a 95%. AP Literature is boring, and I haven't (and most likely won't) learn a thing that I haven't learned in 9th, 10th, and 11th grade English classes (I took Creative Writing in 10th grade and can honestly say that it's the only English class that I enjoyed studying for and doing the work for... ironically, it doesn't even count as an English credit). </p>
<p>Now, on top of all of this, I have been feeling for a long time that I don't think that I will be a good scientist (I plan to be a physical or geological oceanographer) because I can't think of anything but writing as creative. Even in my internship, doing research on programmed cell death of T lymphocytes, I don't feel creative... I didn't come up with my project, the experimental methods to use, even though I probably could have... I feel that I don't have a right to question the current scientific facts for two reasons. One is the fear that my questions will be stupid and irrelevant, the other is that it is ingrained into us from 6th grade that science is static by teaching the same things in 6th grade, 10th grade, and 12th grade biology, with little to no reference of the advances being made currently in science. Finally, I don't feel like the science classes I've taken have prepared me to ask any scientific questions. </p>
<p>I feel like I should have discovered this concept of "unschooling" from the book I mentioned during 9th grade, so that I could have had an actual chance to act upon it... alas, I'm 1/4 of the way through my senior year now, and I'm in the midst of a family crisis as well as applying to schools (I hope to go to Columbia to study/research at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory) and I know that such an idea wouldn't work with my mother right now (recently a single parent due to a violent separation, too much on her mind right now to attempt to change her views on the education system)... so like a lot of other things, I found out about it at the most inopportune moment.</p>
<p>I am considering the next best thing... independent study while at school. I have no idea if my high school even offers such a thing, though... I could fulfill my English requirement by reading the literature that I find interesting and writing essays or something, and I would be able to learn the science I want to on my own (and take the AP tests, etc)... is this kind of thing possible? Does anyone have any experience with independent study?</p>