8 Lessons I Learned From My Alternative Parents

I have never not loved school. I mean, I was the kid that wrote extra (non-assigned) book reports for fun. And though some of this can be attributed to my own Type A nature, most of it can be credited to my parents and their outlook on school — that it’s both a privilege and genuinely a pleasure. My mom, a professor herself, used to bring me to the coffee shop to “work” with her on weekend mornings: while she worked on her dissertation, I would "study" picture books. Later, they’d start taking me on college visits before I even hit high school, showing me what was in store for my future. They challenged me with work games, didn’t scold me for reading under the table during dinner, and brought me out into the world to supplement my classroom lessons with hands-on learning. It wasn’t that they put pressure on me to succeed — I often took care of that for the three of us — but that they simply showed me that school was not only inevitable but enjoyable.