I have to confess a love of well-told stories that centers on the kind works of fairies, tomptens, and other small helpers who take care of a household when the humans are sleeping. But, no matter how much I enjoy the story, real life has a very different reality. Tinkerbell doesn’t live here. I find [read more] …
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Fail Harder!
In today’s culture of snowplow parenting where all obstacles are pushed out of the way of kids, I would like to talk about a radically different concept that is so old it is new. In fact, my paradigm demands the opposite. I believe in intentionally putting obstacles smack dab in the middle of the way [read more] …
How Much is Enough?
As a college consultant I get many questions that contain the word “enough.” • Do we have enough volunteer service hours? • Do we have enough English classes? • Do we have enough AP courses? • Do we have enough SAT Subject tests? • Do we have enough on the resume? • Do we have [read more] …
An Engagement Mindset
With the breaking scandal of parents paying large sums of money to secure illegal entrance for their children to top colleges, this last month has put a black eye on the whole college admissions process in the US. We can, and should, be outraged. However, I think it is a logical outcome for a country [read more] …
First Things First
For most families, it can be a difficult thing to narrow the list of colleges to apply to. But long before that decision is made, it is imperative to spend a great deal of time thinking about: how your student is wired (their personality, strengths, weaknesses, and risk tolerance) what the student [read more] …
Which Path?
So much of life boils down to choices as Poet Robert Frost so eloquently showed us in “The Road Not Taken.” When two roads diverge into a yellow wood, the one we pick will shape us and usually preclude ever coming back and picking the other. When we make this choice for ourselves, we have [read more] …
An Appointment with Joy
I recently asked a young professional what he wished he would have done differently in college. Even though it has been a number of years since he graduated from one of the most selective and highest stress institutions in the country, he had a ready answer, “I wish I would have pursued a structured way [read more] …