Oh do I ever relate to her! I dropped out of high school as a promising student (not as gifted as her mind you) at the beginning of my junior year. I began advocating for my education myself. I found a correspondence school, a tutor, and took some community college classes. I wanted to be a self-sufficient farmer/rancher, I spent much of my time dreaming, researching, and making lists about it. My psychiatrist's basic response was that I was hiding in a dream outside of reality. Now, I fully understand where he is coming from, as a successful suburban doctor, but he was wrong. God has put this amazing desire in my heart and I'm still working out how it all fits together. I went to college because I didn't know any other way to learn how to become a farmer. I left Illinois and went to a state university in the west. It was SO different. I felt different directing myself and choosing what I wanted to learn. I ended up taking Agriculture and Home Ec in high school instead of honors physics. I moved back to Illinois and I own a large organic farm and ranch. My husband and I sell grassfed freezer meat. I have a garden and an orchard. I have begun a master's degree in clinical herbalism and a permaculture certification class. It is HARD. I feel defeated A LOT, no matter how successful that sounded. BUT I still want it, this very real delicate balance of everyday, fighting for our most basic needs. She can learn everything she needs to know in more than one way. College is one of many, and does not have to start full time at 18. I highly encourage you to try to bring her to LaCrosse, Wisconsin this February to the MOSES Organic conference, even if you don't live in the Mid West because it is old, huge, well-planned, and formidable!. You missed Acres-USA (more national) the first week of December. She can learn from these folks what she needs to learn, how to find the information, where to go next. Listen to her as she chooses which round table discussions she wants to go to, or which "track" seems best to follow through the conference, and try to give her your best advise about which sessions sound good, also get some from the people working there, they do this for a living. Let me know if I can answer any other questions. I live this, and I did live this, I totally know what it is like, and I love to help people with this kind of thing. I think if you went to this conference you may see the amazing "revolution" she can take part in and lend her intelligence in a way that will help impact the world, while at the same time following her passion. You will never have to feel like she took "second" or last chair to being something "upstanding" to become a dirt farmer (my dad's words).