At the start of this year, I opened up my email to find an acceptance letter from the rabbinical school I’d applied to a few months back. I couldn’t contain my excitement. This was the fulfillment of a nearly life-long dream that I finally decided to stop putting off.
For most aspiring rabbis, the traditional rabbinical pathway includes relocating to one of only a few schools in the country, and participating in in-person classroom learning for a set term of about four to six years. The pathway is clear-cut and highly functional, but I wanted something a little different. And as the pattern seems to go in my life, my rabbinical education ended up being a little bit, well, unconventional.
My rabbinical program is a self-directed and distance learning program that leverages life experience, self-directed learning, out-of-the-box coursework, and a schedule and length of study designed by me. I could finish the program in one or ten years, based on what I am comfortable exploring, how much I decide to take on each year, and my existing knowledge. Instead of a set course of study that every student has to follow, the program allows me to choose the direction of my learning, select my own classes from anywhere in the world, and travel or work as I learn. I complete the program when I can prove mastery of the core concepts and skills I am expected to know. Sounds quite familiar, doesn’t it?
How K-12 Unconventional Learning Prepared Me for This Pathway
Upon learning the news, lots of my peers sat astonished. “How on earth will you pace yourself?” they asked. “How will you ever have the motivation or focus to finish?” “Better yet,” they say, “How will you know what to study or keep track of your progress?” For them, this style of learning is not only new; it’s completely unfathomable. Schooling is expected to be structured, teacher-centered, and one-size-fits all. And honestly, I get why they would be baffled.
I have both ADHD and autism (or AuDHD), so focus and consistency have been two things that never came easy to me. Yet, no one would ever know. Because, the truth is, being homeschooled gave me an advantage I never expected: time management and self-motivation are permanently ingrained in my memory. Otherwise, I would have never even considered the self-directed educational route. I would have thought I wasn’t capable. So, when people ask, “How will you do it?” the only answer I can give is, “I’m actually quite used to it. I was homeschooled.”
Homeschooling taught me how to see myself as capable of learning without boundaries, and taught me never to put limits on my passions or how far my passions could take me. It showed me that learning was more important than schooling alone, and that education can come in many forms. It allowed me to learn how to set goals, track progress, design learning plans, and look for ways to get hands-on experience intentionally. Most of all, it equipped me with skills to manage my time effectively and study based solely on intrinsic motivation, adequately balancing my work-life routine and empowering myself to believe in my capabilities. Does this mean I don’t experience the AuDHD-related challenges of time-blindness, procrastination, learning challenges, or temporary hyperfixations? Not at all! But having a self-directed learning path allowed me to work with my brain instead of against it to reach my potential.
Now, I enter a self-paced rabbinical program, not only with excitement, questions, and a plan, but with the drive and confidence to take full advantage of the freedom this program provides. With no relocation or set courses, I can take graduate level courses from anywhere I want, study at my own pace from home, travel the world, and volunteer in my community to learn. I can also continue doing the amazing work I do at the Education Entrepreneurship Lab, bringing more amazing content and programming to you while I study! The possibilities are truly endless, and thanks to unconventional education, I know I can leverage the program to become a well-rounded rabbi with my own unique vibe.
What’s Next for Me?
In approximately three to four years, I’ll be a rabbi. It is a long and intense journey filled with extensive learning and new experiences. Like in my homeschooling years, where I decided to launch businesses and shadow teachers to gain experience before graduation, I have a similar approach to this next journey. Why not start now with getting hands-on experience, and creating, building, and designing ways to connect people?
My focus in rabbinical school will be the same as it has always been in my career, leveraging unconventional learning spaces to foster thriving, interconnected, and diverse communities that are both engaging and innovative. I want synagogues, community organizations, and even individuals to see learning through a new lens, and find new ways to get people engaged and excited about learning.
I am now in the process of designing my learning journey from the ground up to reflect my goals. I am working on securing shadowing opportunities with rabbis in my community who can help me learn the vocation with hands-on experience. I am practicing what I learn by facilitating my own adult Jewish learning sessions rooted in unconventional learning techniques that I learned from being homeschooled. I am writing, researching, volunteering, and engaging in ways that are only possible because of my full embrace of the self-directed nature of the program. The possibilities are truly endless! And it’s only thanks to my background of going from a homeschooled student to an unconventional educator that this pathway is even possible.
So, if you’ve ever doubted whether or not unconventional education is right for you or your children, consider this story. Homeschooling made me feel capable, independent, and empowered in a world that would have put limits on my aspirations. My path has never been traditional or conventional, and it’s because of this that I know what the freedom to learn truly feels like. It’s that joy I hope to spread as I take this next step in my educational journey and continue the amazing work I’m doing at the Education Entrepreneurship Lab.
