Filling Your Shoes

Little ones love finding their parents shoes and walking around in them. They are so eager to be just like mom and dad, figuratively and literally. As parents, there are many moments when we wish the years would speed up at various times, especially when the little ones are in challenging stages. Then all of a sudden, the time goes by way too quickly, as we cannot get it to slow down. The adult shoes they previously played in, now fit them, or are even too small.

As we get ready to say goodbye to the class of 2017, it is important to think about how we can all help these young adults transition into the next stage of their lives. It an emotional time for them and an emotional time for families as well. The summer after high school is a good time to sit down as a family and help your young adults figure out how to live a full, responsible, balanced life. Here are some questions that can guide your discussion.

What are the family expectations now that your high school student is growing into adulthood? Detail the responsibilities of everyone in the family.

What is a responsible time to go to bed?

What is reasonable time to be up in the morning? How do you establish healthy sleep and wake patterns?

What does it mean to be a professional in the workplace?

Who is paying for what at college? Books? Spending money?

How do you get help if you have roommate issues? Academic challenges? Transition and adjustment issues?

Sometimes students' expectations for life in college forget to include some of the challenges that they may face.  No place is perfect and graduating into adulthood means finding the positives, fixing the negatives that can be changed, and accepting those things that are beyond control. Helping students arrive at college with an open mind and the resiliency to access the supports available to them will make all the difference in the world. Preparing for the transition is key, as more students are transferring during their college years than ever before.  The article link below is a great read about this trend.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/01/29/why-so-many-college-students-decide-to-transfer/?utm_term=.d06cb6dbab25

As always, please reach out to your child's counselor, and we can help you with any concerns you may have about the college transition.

Believing is Seeing; or, is seeing believing?

Students need to visualize life after high school.  Seeing themselves in college, seeing themselves in the world of work, envisioning happiness and success - these are the exercises they need to do to help them reach their potential.  The power of believing cannot be overstated; negative self talk and fear of failure impact performance from everything from sports to the stage, SAT to AP. Yet, in addition to picturing a life after high school, students also benefit from seeing life after high school. College visits provide concrete images of the next step in education. In the upcoming week, there are amazing opportunities for your children to get out and learn about what is out there.

NACAC College Fair: Hundreds and hundreds of colleges and universities will all be present at the Boston Convention Center this Sunday from 2 to 5 pm and Monday morning from 8:30 until 12:30 pm. Please see the link below for a list of colleges attending.
https://hub.nacacnet.org/viewtemplate?render=pdf&tid=a2K1a000000LuLU&id=a0k1a0000058VqFAAU

Junior Families: Please check your emails this evening.  On Wednesday, June 7th, the high school guidance department will be chaperoning buses to take juniors on college tours.  Students can sign up for one bus of the three. Destinations are: UMASS or Endicott and Merrimack or Emerson and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Space is limited so sign up as soon as possible.  All the details are in the email and flyer!