Successfully home schooled?

Last night, Jon Stewart was talking about home schooling (one word or two, I'm not sure, but I don't doubt that someone with a badge and a dictionary will tell me). Did I mention that I love me some Jon Stewart. I have a fantasy that he develops a new segment called "Heather's Marketing and Finance at Marketing Blog as Read by Children"...how cute would they be saying "whee!"...really, they are the only ones that have a right to say that anyway!

Also, I have been loading up on the reality TV. I have lots of comments to make about what I have been watching. I may need a purge post to get all my opinions out there (anyone see Average Joe last night?). One of the shows that I am watching is The Scholar, which I have to admit caught my attention because it takes place at USC. The premise of the show is that there are ten (I think) kids that need money to attend a top school. They are all incredibly bright, but their financial need was not met through scholarships. On one hand, I want to invite them to the wonderful world of student loans that I am still (yes, still...thankfully, I got scholarships to cover most, but the loans were absolutely needed to live) living in. But I also have to admit that I really love some of those kids (and if being smarter makes you more deserving, which is one of the points of scholarships, then I'm OK with them getting the cash). My favorites are Melissa (who wants to be Melissa when the grow up? I know I do!) and the home schooled guy, Scot (I would have had a crush on Scot when I was in high school but that is beside the point, I guess).

Back when I was growing up (I'm sure there's some prehistoric era associated with it), you (or at least I) never really heard about people being home-schooled. I started school private and moved to public in fifth (eleven schools during my K-12 education...now that deserves a whee!) and never have known anyone that was home schooled. I'm fascinated by the concept. Especially since I am in an occupation where I'm responsible for assessing skills and intellect (you decide if I am qualified to do the latter).

When you hear about successful people, you often hear about their college background. For example, it's well-known that Bill Gates did not finish college. Or that Harvard MBAs run several Fortune 100 corporations. So I guess I am just curious if we are at a point now, where people that were home schooled as children are prominent business leaders. It would be interesting to know, if we can identify these people, what unique qualities they bring to the table that those of us with more *traditional* education channels lack. Would also be interesting to hear from anyone that was home-schooled.