Learning on my own terms | Thomas Curto | TEDxGiarre

Thomas Curto presents his perspective as someone who has never attended a traditional classroom yet is completing a degree in mathematical engineering while also having trained as a professional ballet dancer and running his own business. He opens by noting that many successful people, from Taylor Swift to Elon Musk, were educated outside traditional systems, challenging audiences to examine their assumptions about education versus institutions. Curto emphasizes that homeschooling doesn't create exceptional individuals but provides an alternative option that makes many uncomfortable. His education combined professional ballet training at Accademia Teatro alla Scala with flexible academic study, where ownership of learning mattered more than hours spent. This approach taught him self-regulation not through external enforcement but through necessity. He addresses socialization concerns by explaining that his social education came through intense ballet training involving public correction and interaction across age groups rather than age-segregated classrooms. The key benefit he identifies was time - time to understand his strengths and weaknesses, to change his mind, and to develop an authentic sense of self not borrowed from grades or comparisons. He describes the responsibility and discomfort of preparing for university entrance exams without external structure, learning to engage with systems while not confusing performance with identity. Curto concludes that education should build capacity to navigate uncertainty rather than just expose students to systems, as his homeschooling prepared him for when rules change rather than just for classrooms.