Survival Arts

Ye Bin Mok: more living proof that homeschooled children most decidedly aren't cripples

I watched the 2003 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Dallas last night, and as usual was fascinated with all aspects of the competition - this is one of the few sports I watch - particularly the Senior Women's Free Skate. 22 year-old Michelle Kwan was even more spectacular than ever, placing first as expected and picking up an unprecedented 28th 6.0. She owned the ice that night, and it showed on her face and in her performance.

There were a number of other, notable performances, including that of 6th-place 18 year-old Ye Bin Mok, a Korean immigrant who moved to Los Angeles with her parents around age 9. What really piqued my interest in her was when one of the sports commentators mentioned in passing, "she's being home schooled". This was one of the last things in the world I expected to hear from a commentator, my mind being on the performance, so I did the metaphorical jaw-drop and made a note to check up on this assertion later.

True to the commentator's word, her USFSA bio page confirms her non-traditional status, with her school listed as "Laurel Springs Independent Study", which has quite an interesting website.

An interview with Ye Bin shows her to be normal, bright, ambitious (she's UCLA-bound), and apparently well-socialized in the sense of being able to relate to other human beings, adding yet another piece of data contrary to the erroneous assertions of the government-school pushers, many of whose inmates turn out to be righteous little loser sociopaths, which Ms. Mok most evidently is not.

I wish her all the best, and hope other homeschoolers use her as one of many solid examples of "it can be done, and furthermore, we can do it much better".

Posted by Russell Whitaker at January 19, 2003 10:54 PM | TrackBack