Editor’s note: As part of a series about students from rural areas, I spoke to Rain White ‘24, who lived 35 miles outside the nearest town of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, about their path to Swarthmore and how their high school experience has affected their Swarthmore experience. Some responses have been edited for brevity or clarity.
Tell me a little bit about where you are from. What was your high school experience like?
I was homeschooled by my parents on a homestead in rural northeast Oklahoma. We didn’t really use a curriculum so I was just learning from textbooks that we got from various places. I was mostly self taught as well because, at a certain point, I passed my parents’ ability to teach me.
How did your high school experience affect your experience at Swat?
In some ways, not having the traditional high school experience made it more difficult to adjust to life in college. I grew up as an only child in a very isolated location, so I didn’t really have a social group until I came to Swarthmore. Academically, I think homeschooling helped me in the sense that I am self-motivated to do work because that was the way I had to learn in high school. I also didn’t have access to a ton of resources so that made me more uncomfortable asking for help or looking for outside resources here. Through the repeated process of being confronted with challenges and failure and having help offered to me and realizing that it was something that I needed to take advantage of, I’ve become much more confident seeking out help on my own.
What skills did you learn during homeschooling that you’ve applied here?
I would teach myself a lesson and then I would explain it to my father and if he understood it, we assumed that I had a good grasp on the knowledge. I got a lot of experience explaining concepts and that’s something I still utilize at Swarthmore; I work as a TA in the Computer Science department and I’m a peer mentor for the Summer Scholars Program.
What similarities do you see between your high school and Swarthmore experience?
At Swarthmore, there is a large focus on holistic education and learning for the sake of learning which parallels my homeschool experience. Also, Swarthmore places lots of value on small-group discussions that foster curiosity in your subject, and I think that’s something that was a big part of the way my parents tried to teach me. That’s something I especially appreciate because I get the impression that it isn’t always the case at other colleges.
How did you “find” Swarthmore?
Initially, I was under the impression that I was going to need to go into a lot of debt in order to go to college, and that was something I was really opposed to doing. I ended up applying to the QuestBridge college match program because of their outreach. One day, they sent me a postcard in the mail and I thought, “well that’s interesting, I’ll look into it.” I ended up applying, and I was matched with Swarthmore.
What’s your advice for a prospective Swarthmore student who is not in a traditional high school situation?
In my opinion, by the time you’re a prospective student, you’ve crossed the biggest hurdle, which is understanding the value of going to college and being motivated to try to make that happen. If you’re already doing that, congratulations! Other than that, my biggest piece of advice would be social advice: it’s ok if you have some trouble making friends at first. Try to broaden the circle of people you interact with, and over time you’ll meet some great friends with common interests.
