While many teenage girls were getting a driver’s license, wanting to date and thinking of the prom, 16-year-old Rhonda Lee was packing her bags and heading to N.C. Central University to begin her freshman year.

Lee is among 2 million teenagers in the U.S. who are homeschooled and graduate early. Her expected graduation date was 2004, but she walked across the stage with the other North Carolina homeschoolers in May 2000.

“My parents gave me the option of taking some time off, but I did not want to sit out and wait,” said Lee. “ I felt mature enough to go to college and conduct myself in an appropriate manner.”

Lee started home school after the third grade because she had missed part of the year due to sickness. Her teacher wanted to hold her back, but her parents objected.

“Basically my parents were not going to let that happen,” she said. “Especially since I had been on the honor roll for most of the year.”

Lee said home school was very similar to being in public schools. She and her parents went through a correspondence school in Illinois to receive the educational materials and exams.

“With the correspondence school, I could phone in and speak with an instructor if I had any questions on a particular subject,” she said. “I had a schedule to follow beginning at 8 a.m. and I had to complete all major subjects like Math and English and after school we had functions and programs to attend.”

“One of the hardest things about home school is separating your mother and your teacher along with distractions from younger siblings,” Lee said.

Lee, who scored a 1240 on the SAT, said she was recruited to come to NCCU.

“Anthony Brooks from undergraduate admissions heard of my SAT scores and my age and I was given a tour of the university,” she said. “I applied to N.C. State University and NCCU, but I was impressed with the one-on-one relationship between the professors and students at NCCU.”

As a Criminal Justice major, Music minor and English concentration carries 20 credit hours and maintains a 4.0 grade point average. Not only does Lee focus on her curriculum, she is a member of the bowling team, the university choir and works 112 hours per semester in the NCCU Community Service office.

“Rhonda is very well-prepared orally and written,” said professor of criminal justice Wendell Andrews. “She is a model student who is informed on a lot of current issues.”

“Rhonda is very mature and she carries herself well,” said close friend Miriam Parker. “Our friendship is not just about advising Rhonda on certain issues. She brings a lot to the table and she keeps me focused on my goals.”