Northwest Christian Homeschool: Being around those ‘motivated to learn’ a big inspiration for Maggie Pfening

The glass is never half full for Northwest Christian Homeschool senior Maggie Pfening. It is always at least three-fourths full.

Pfening has been enrolled in the homeschool program since fifth grade, and will receive a NWC Homeschool Program Extension diploma from the school. Students in the program typically attend classes at the site one day a week, receiving assignments to be completed over the next seven days. Pfening’s schedule has been different this year than in the past – she has been enrolled in three courses at the Northwest Christian main campus.

“The program meets at my church,” Pfening said, “and my mom works there, so she has played a huge role in my education. I’ve been homeschooled my whole life, but before fifth grade, my parents were looking for a way to get me outside my homeschool bubble and meet different people. Some people at our church had positive experiences with NWC Homeschool, so they decided to give it a try.

“It’s been an amazing experience! It is super encouraging to be around people motivated to learn. Sometimes home school can be less than challenging, and coming into high school here, it has been more like a college class than high school. It’s been great preparation for what’s to come.

“I’ve had to figure out how to budget my time, so it’s more similar to college in that way, too. I’ve also had the opportunity to take dual-enrollment courses through Northwest Nazarene University, so I have college credits as well.”

Maggie will attend the Master’s University in Santa Clarita, California, this fall. She’ll start in a liberal arts program with an emphasis on Biblical Studies. The biggest appeal for her, though, is the Master’s study abroad programs, including travel to Israel, Turkey and Greece, and retracing the missionary journeys of St. Paul.

“I’m excited for the challenge of being away from home,” she said. “I know everybody here and everybody knows us, but I want to meet new people and experience new things outside the comfort of my family. I’m not sure why, necessarily, except that I’ve always had a passion to travel. I really didn’t consider colleges around here because I wanted a new thing, and college is a great place to do that.”

She is also interested in the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program, which she says will provide her the opportunity to travel and teach abroad. In the long term, she hopes to participate in ministry work.

Pfening’s Senior Leadership instructor, Courtney Manuel, sees big things ahead for her.

“Maggie is full of joy,” she said. “She brings life into the classroom. She is loved by everyone and is a light of Jesus wherever she goes.”

It may be difficult to picture, but Pfening describes herself in her earlier years as introverted, so finding new friends and meeting new people has been a highlight of her high-school experience. She has learned, she says, that the best way to interact with others is to create an atmosphere of mutual respect. And without a doubt, she has done that.