Personal Profile: Mia Hope – Millenial Influx

By Michael Gehl

Mia Pitts Hope grew up in Colorado and lived there her whole life except for a two-year stint in Atlanta. She is a self-described cowgirl at heart and loves the outdoors and adventure. She is a quiet but funny individual but that is natural for the youngest sibling. Mia has an older sister by 15 years and a brother who is two and a half years older than her. She is a strong individual who always seems to look at things positively instead of negatively. Growing up in Colorado she was home-schooled and had never heard of Wheaton College. However, in high school, she learned of Wheaton and decided despite its flaws it was the place. At Wheaton, Mia has enjoyed making friends and spending time investing in those friends and relationships. Wheaton is without a doubt lucky to have her.

I loved learning more about Mia because I did not know much about her or really anything about her before this assignment. For this reason, I intentionally picked questions that would get deeper to the root of who she was as a person and what made her the way she is. My biggest takeaway from the conversation with Mia was the impact that her family has had on her life. Most importantly her grandmother. Mia describes in one word “crazy.” You can tell by the change in her tone when she talked about her Grandma the importance she has had on Mia’s life. You could feel the love she had for her just by the things she said and the way she said them. Mia said her grandma is her best friend and understandably so. Mia describes her Grandma as a “fiery sweet old woman” who throws things and loves well. I’m not surprised that she and Mia are so close, her Grandma sounds like an amazing woman. Mia said that her Grandma was a huge part of her upbringing and even helped raise her for a little bit. The two of them have been incredibly close since Mia’s childhood and that does not look to be changing anytime soon. What a blessing it is for Mia to have such an amazing woman in her life to spend time with learning from and having fun with. Mia’s grandma was fascinating to me because she sounds like an extremely diverse person. Mia described her as someone who is always right, swears like a sailor, and loves extremely well. What an amazing person to have in your corner! I have no doubt that Mia will impact many others the way her own Grandma has impacted her.

I also learned that Mia is into film and cinema. She also has an extremely free creative and curious spirit. after Wheaton, she hopes of going on and chasing down her passions as well as traveling the World and having unforgettable experiences. I have no doubt, Mia will do all these things that she dreams of because of her can-do spirit, quiet resolve, and firm family backing. It was truly a blessing to spend time talking and learning more about Mia. This will not be the last time any of us hear the name “Mia Pitts-Hope.”

Homeschooler in the Real World

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.