Homeschoolers sometimes struggle to find extracurriculars that fit their lifestyle, so we decided to develop an article by asking our PAH community for suggestions! Here is a brief piece from our own staff member, Hope Hesselink, describing one of her favorite extracurricular experiences, followed by various recommendations from other PAH students.
. . . . . . .
I have always wanted to travel the world. My family has traveled a great deal, and I have always been fascinated with experiencing something (or rather, somewhere) that strikingly contrasts what one is used to. Last spring, I was on a frantic search for opportunities to experience new cultures and travel independently, when my mother came across something called Great Books Summer Programs. Within 48 hours of discovering it, my parents signed me up for a weeklong literary travel program at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
I was initially very nervous; a whole week without my family, at a college, in a big city, in an unfamiliar country? But my worrying was unnecessary. I spent the week enthralled, fascinated, and thrilled.
On the first full day (a Monday), I woke up sprawled out on the small bed tucked into the corner of my charming dorm room at Trinity Hall. After preparing for the day, I joined the group of students standing in the courtyard, under the chronically gray sky. We ate breakfast in a brightly lit cafeteria before walking to the nearby bus stop. Excitedly chattering, we boarded – I had never been on a double decker bus before, so I was already enraptured. When we entered Trinity College thirty minutes later, we were all in awe. The spectacular campus was founded in 1592, yet the cobblestone streets and towering buildings were timeless. We spent the next three hours in a traditional lecture hall, sitting on wooden benches and discussing the various poems we had been assigned the night before. Our teacher, a professor at Trinity, led us in analyzing and interpreting the words of William Butler Yeats, an Irish poet. After eating on campus and participating in a short writing activity, we explored the famed Book of Kells Experience, which is a museum containing the Book of Kells, a 9th century manuscript, and various other artifacts. Towards the end of our self-guided tour, we wandered through the massive library, containing stone busts of famous scientists and philosophers at each row of shelves. The walls were lined with wooden book cases that reached to the vaulted ceiling, and at the end of the long hallway was a floating earth replica. I stared in wonder. After our designated reading time at a park, we ate dinner at a restaurant called the Boxty House. We sat in the basement of the building, lit with twinkling lights and lined with mirrors and pictures. The bustle and chatting filled the room with a warm feeling as we devoured the delicious meals. Following our return to Trinity Hall, we spent the evening socializing in our designated groups (called Pods) before all gathering together to form what would become a cherished tradition: Tea Time. Each night, many of us would stay up past lights out (shhh, don’t tell), enjoying drinks and snacks and conversation.
Each day passed as a new adventure, and the end came all too soon. While I was sad to leave, I am grateful that I had the experience, and the opportunity to return again next summer. And you can have that opportunity as well — programs are still open for 2026! There are various opportunities in Great Books on both domestic and international campuses, including literary travel, writing workshops, Great Books and Big Ideas, and online options. To access additional information, check out their website here or call the administrators, Paula and Alix, at 203-612-9470,#3.
We highly encourage you to pursue this opportunity! But options don’t stop at Great Books – here are a few recommendations by other PAH students.
Note: Model United Nations is a program in which students participate in debate modeling the structure of the UN. See here for more information.
I first joined a teen-led homeschool MUN club in 2023, and even though I barely knew anything about debate, I really enjoyed it! I am now the president of the club, and I'm starting to see that I enjoy teaching as much as I enjoy debate :). The best part? I learned about the world around me at the same time!
Louis Ossi: RC Plane Building and Flying
One of my favorite extracurricular activities is building remote control (RC) plane models. For a long time, I have been fascinated by airplanes and the principles of aerodynamics, including the concept of air speed flowing at a different pressure and speed over and under the wings of aircraft which generates lift. In seventh grade, when I started to learn the different parts of airplanes and understand how each part is essential for flight, I decided to buy a balsa wood glider. I spent hours experimenting with it and trying to find the method that would enable it to fly the highest and smoothest. I applied paper strips to the wings, stabilizers, and rudder of the glider in an attempt to imitate the flaps and ailerons of a real airplane. Each place that I would position the “flaps” would contribute to a specific course that the glider would take, whether it be up or down left or right.
My interest in airplanes grew more, and I then attempted to assemble aircraft engine propellers by using spare rotor blades from my drone set and powering them with batteries. I connected the blades to the balsa glider’s wings, but evidently the weight only brought the glider crashing to the ground as soon as I let it go into the wind. However, I was not discouraged and sometime later on I began looking into RC planes. I thought that it would be rewarding to build one myself, so I followed the instructions from a video explaining the steps needed to build a simple RC Styrofoam aircraft. I bought the parts I needed and set to work. I built the frame of the aircraft, including the fuselage and empennage, and then connected the transmitter to the receiver. My excitement tapered as soon as I noticed that the servos jittered unceasingly as soon as I turned the front propeller on. This was a problem because if the servos did not work properly the airplane would lack flap control, and this was important for takeoff and landing. I knew that there had to be some way around this problem, so I troubleshooted the issue for a while–but to no avail. Nevertheless, I attempted to fly my plane without flap control. Going outside, I turned on the propeller and let go of my airplane, which took a parabolic path and quickly plummeted to the earth, breaking the nose and severing off the propeller.
At this point, I knew that buying an RC plane would be the best decision instead of building one myself from scrap materials. However, I still didn’t give up on my aspirations to build an RC plane knowing how thrilling it would be to watch an aircraft that I constructed take off. In addition, I'd always been interested in building models, such as Kadet boats, solar windmills, and wooden houses. Eventually, I bought a kit to construct a dual motor C-160 Cargotrans RC plane. Since the fall of this year, I have spent time working on this project and plan to have it completed by the summer of next year, when the wind will permit a hopefully “First Flight.”
. . . . . . .
Hope Hesselink has been a homeschooler in Maryland her entire life. She is an avid reader, loves politics and philosophy, and is proud to be a Scout, black belt in karate, and guitarist.