Amazing People You Might Not Have Known Were Homeschooled

Sandra Day O’Connor was born on a rural farm in Arizona which made formal education difficult. As a result, she was taught by her mother at home. She learned to read early, took long walks in which she learned about nature, and gained experience from her everyday life. These experiences formed the foundation for a life spent in public service—she was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court and helped decide important legal questions as a member of the court for more than 20 years.

Venus and Serena Williams were tennis prodigies. Homeschooling gave them the flexibility to be able to focus on their tennis careers while still getting a first class education. Today, they are not only tennis superstars, but business professionals, too—they recently launched their own highly successful fashion line

Jennifer Love Hewitt began her acting career at an early age, and homeschooling allowed her to keep a vigorous schedule of starring in commercials and movies without neglecting her education. Now, she is arguably one of the most successful actresses in Hollywood and one of the most recognized faces in the world.

Bethany Hamilton is a home schooled pro surfer with an inspiring story—at the age of thirteen, she was attacked by a shark and lost her left arm. After months of recovery, Bethany re-taught herself how to surf and was again able to join the ranks of the world’s best surfers. Bethany penned her own account of the attack in a memoir which was later turned into a movie