EdCircuit Staff 
Amy Valentine 
When students speak, the education world must stop and listen. Welcome to the “Students Speak” series on Future of School: The Podcast, presented in partnership with National School Choice Week.
Oam Patel is today’s guest. Oam is a graduate of Mountain Home High School in Mountain Home, Idaho, a small rural town, and a first-year student at Harvard University.
In ninth grade, he spoke with a cousin in Houston and learned about the variety of courses that were available in his cousin’s school. From this, Oam realized that online courses could provide access to numerous subjects even if they weren’t offered at his small school. He began to take some courses that summer which were supported by the Idaho Digital Learning Academy, the state-sponsored online school serving the entire state of Idaho.
From there, Oam continued to use online learning to augment his in-person courses. He accessed some history and computer science courses that weren’t available in his school and learned a lot more about his interests (he determined he’s not a history buff, but was encouraged to take some computer science classes in college).
Reflecting on what would be different if he’d never learned about online options, he says, “I think I’d be a little more closed-minded in my academics. I wouldn’t know about certain subjects that I really enjoy now. I wouldn’t have explored opportunities that I’m very glad I’ve taken.”
Future of School: The Podcast is hosted by Amy Valentine, CEO and Education Evangelist for Future of School. Subscribe to hear more Students Speak episodes along with upcoming series from Future of School. Follow Future of School on Twitter @futureof_school, follow Amy @amyvalentine555, and learn more on our website: www.futureof.school
National School Choice Week is a not-for-profit, charitable effort to raise awareness of effective K–12 education options for children. NSCW focuses equally on traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, private schools, online schools, and homeschools. Participate in the conversation by following @schoolchoicewk on Twitter and using the hashtag #schoolchoiceweek. Learn more at https://schoolchoiceweek.com
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