I spent last Thursday-Sunday at the Secular Eclectic Academic Homeschool conference in Atlanta, Georgia. I almost didn’t go to this conference, but I am so, so glad I did.

I almost didn’t go for a few different reasons.

The first was cost. When I booked my tickets, I was a month away from the beginning of my impending layoff, and I had no idea how finances were going to shake out.

The second was purpose. I was feeling pretty good about my homeschooling practices and didn’t really need to browse curriculum or attend training (after all, I’ve been a teacher for my entire adult life). I also have been growing some good connections and relationships within my local homeschooling community, so I wasn’t feeling like I had to travel across the country to find like-minded folks.

Something made me do it anyway. Maybe it’s because I have been in academia and know firsthand how surprising conferences can be. For me, the magic often isn’t in the session topics or the resources available (though both can be great). There’s something about getting people together in a giant room that starts sparks flying, and I wanted that kind of energy, that kind of boost.

If you’ve been wavering on attending a conference, here are the reasons I think going to one is worth the time, cost, and effort.

Inspiration

Listening to other people talk about their passions is the single best way to find your own. It’s contagious. It’s like how you can’t help but yawn when someone else yawns in front of you.

If you listen to someone talk about how excited they are to plan their homeschool year or how fired up they get when they teach a certain book, it automatically starts ideas firing off in your own mind.

Even if you take things in a completely different direction, their energy is palpable. And when you multiply that by dozens of enthusiastic attendees, well, you can imagine what happens.

Sure, you can get a taste of that from reading people’s blogs or listening to podcasts or even chatting on Facebook groups. But there is something about physically being together that can’t be replicated through a mediated experience. We are social beings, and these kinds of group experiences tap into the way we work on a very profound level.

Connections

Look, making friends as an adult is hard. It can be especially hard when you’re an introvert (like me!) It can be even harder when you’re a homeschooler. Your schedule and lifestyle are just a little (or sometimes a lot) off from everyone else, and if you don’t live in an area with a lot of homeschoolers, you can feel pretty isolated and adrift.

I’m all about diverse friendships and making connections with people who are different from you, but there is something to be said for finding people who get it, and conferences are a great way to do that. This was my first time attending SEA, but it was so inspiring to meet so many women who had met each other the year prior and were excitedly reconnecting in person after keeping touch in the interim. They were also quick to welcome newcomers and gracious with their friendship.

I also got a chance to meet SEA founder Blair Lee, who is a true beacon of empowering energy and a real delight of a person. Seeing her live out her vision and share it with so many others as she let them take pieces of it and make it their own was deeply moving.

Practical Tips

Even if you think you’ve got it all figured out, conferences are amazing for providing you with hands-on, practical tips that you can take home and use. I attended presentations on organization, sensory diets, teaching art history, neuroscience, and the disruptive nature of online education (among others). I mostly went to hear new ideas and find a grounding point for some of my practices.

But I also got real, immediate tips that I could put into action. I got sensory exercises to help my daughter focus that I was on the floor doing with her an hour after my plane landed. I realized what wasn’t working with my weekly lesson plan and started revamping it in the airport.

Goodies!

I had not intended to get anything at this conference. We’re doing a lot of project-based, child-led stuff, and we live right next to a library. I was feeling pretty set for the upcoming year.

But then I won some goodies! I participated in the raffle and got a bunch of great picture books on American history and a copy of the brand new R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Earth and Environment curriculum!

I also came home and immediately bought this art history curriculum because I was so impressed with it in person that I couldn’t pass it up (and will probably be blogging more about it once we dig in).

A Glimpse at the Future

A lot of the people at this conference had older kids who attended with them (and many had young kids, too, and it was awesome to see how accommodating the event was, but it was the older ones who caught my eye). My kids are 7 and 2, so I have often wondered what I am getting myself into and how this is all going to come together.

It was so cool seeing families interact. The kids were playing card tournaments and building massive cardboard castles together. I watched other parents navigate how much freedom to give their pre-teens in the huge urban hotel complex. I saw siblings looking out for each other even as they teased one another.

Overall, there was something about seeing these families all making it work that made me feel better about my own future.

Taking the Leap 

I don’t think you can get this kind of outcome by just blindly attending whatever conference happens to come your way. There were certainly conferences closer to my house that I don’t think would have had the same impact.

Go where your people are—whatever that means to you.

Join a bunch of online communities and then pay attention to where you spend your time. What feeds make you smile and nod rather than cringe and hide posts? What notifications make you light up instead of turning them off? What groups do you go to first when you have a question that really matters? Chances are that those are going to be the people who will click for you in person, too. Find out where they’re going and go there. Get together.

It’s worth it!