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] …
Extracurricular Activities
Should You Keep It for Love?
I get the question often. Should parents encourage their kids to pursue a career in an activity they love such as music, dance, theater, or art? There are no easy answers and certainly different answers for different children. However, let me share with you how our family processed this question. My daughter is a violinist [read more] …
Which Risk?
Risk, by its very definition, is the embracing of uncertainty, potential harm, or even danger. By choosing risk, we walk into the unknown, rich with promise that could go either direction. We are accepting the fact that we must have the resilience to cope with any outcome. Years ago, I had agonizing choices to make. [read more] …
The Power of Choice
The older I get, the more aware I am of the fact that life is absolutely unpredictable. There is no scary rollercoaster on the planet that comes close to the twists and turns that make up the average lifetime. Few people at fifty are living the life they envisioned at twenty. While we try to [read more] …
Do Something Your Friends Don’t
The first question most students ask me is how to make themselves stand out from the thousands of other kids who are applying to college. The answer is fairly simple. Do something your friends don’t. It is that easy and that difficult. Instead of participating in something your friend would, do something an adult would [read more] …