A Home-Schooler's Experience of a Sixth Form School

 The above is a random picture to really confuse you. Infer what you will.

Decisions, decisions! Recently I have been rather tossed... trying to decide what to do with my educational life.
I could either: study at home, go to college, go to sixth form or go live in a cardboard box by the side of the Thames.
It could be any of those, bar the last: (it would have to be a very comfortable cardboard box)
So, what to do?
Well, a couple of months ago I attended a spate of Open Days around the area....
I went to a university, a college, a girl's grammar school, a mixed grammar school.
Can't get more diverse than that :D

In the end I applied to a sixth form at a girl's (but mixed) grammar school. It was the only good one in the area. Last week I attended their open days on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The first day I hated it. It was loud, noisy, everyone I spoke to swore every other sentence (something I am not used to) and I got lost. Quite a few times. Involving walking into the year 9's locker room by accident. Ouch. However, on the other hand: the lessons were really good and I enjoyed them, the teachers are all very nice, and I made a few friends.

The second day was not too much better. I spent it mostly thinking, can I face and will I cope, coming to this building every single day for the next two years, working and studying and doing homework and hearing gossip and eating gross school meals or squashed picnic lunches, basically in a secular enviroment? All for the sake of the experience and an easy way out to studying the subjects I most enjoy?

The third day was better. It was sunny, I had made friends, and I brought my own lunch. We did oil-painting in Art and composed character music in Music both of which I love doing. I'll also mention that some fellow students were talking about taking drugs, and that on the way home, some school boys knocked the window from the bus stop onto my head and found it funny. Then again, I had some really good conversations and a chance to witness to some of the friends I made. The atmosphere in the school is fun, friendly and hard-working, but just also very worldy.

So, that was my experience of a sixth form.
And I still have no idea wether I like... or hate it.
For a full picture, if I go to this sixth form, I will be able to stay at home and then catch the bus to it every day. Bearing in mind I will be having to pay for the bus.
The other alternative is staying at home or... going to college. I'll give you my impression of that college in a later post.
So yes, there are so many decisions that I'm facing. Am I scared? Yes. Terrified? Maybe even that. But I can trust.
Because in the end it's where God leads. He knows my future. He knows me. And that's the most important thing.