Ruby discovered ways to navigate her high school experience while balancing her health, creativity, and desire to help others during her time as a fully online student at VirtualEDU. With support from her teachers and a flexible learning environment, she was able to continue her education in a way that worked with her needs while exploring her interests in health, art, and caregiving.
After graduation, Ruby plans to focus on her health journey, continue exploring medicine and creative arts, and hopes to pursue opportunities that allow her to help others in meaningful ways.
What sparked your interest in helping others and holistic health?
Since I was two months old, I have had issues with my body. Ever since, I’ve just had to deal with them. If you are someone with a health condition, you know how hard it is to get help and feel understood by the people around you, and how hard it is to make friends and just go to school in general. Having that experience makes me very passionate about helping kids, adults, the elderly, and just everyone with what they are going through. I really enjoy taking care of the people around me.
How has VirtualEDU supported you in your journey?
I have many physical health conditions and mental health conditions, which made it really hard to attend school and just be a normal human being. Eventually I learned about VEDU, and I thought it was fake because it sounded too good to be true. I was like, ‘I can go to school without going to school?’ That first year was really good and it felt weird, because I felt more comfortable than I usually did. The community was really nice, and it was surprising how close everyone was even though it is a small school. My second year has been even easier because I understood how things worked.
What role did your teachers play in your experience?
I would shout out every single one of my teachers and say I really appreciate them. Everyone has been a really special part of my journey. All my teachers have understood me so much more and I feel like I am not getting pity from any of them, just the help and understanding that I need, which has made doing assignments a lot easier. I also have a lot of respect for my teachers because I see how hard they are working, and that makes me want to do school more.
What are you looking forward to after graduation?
I am really enjoying being independent and I want to see where that independence takes me. I think I am ready to leave this place. I am planning on moving to New York after the summer and finding hopefully classes on holistic medicine and cooking. I also really like art, so I might take more art classes.