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Waiting For Acceptance Letters Can Be An Emotional Roller Coaster

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Parents, this one is for you.

 

Right now, your high school senior is on pins and needles waiting to hear back from colleges. They may have heard back from some already or are yet to receive a single decision. They may not express this to you, but their self-confidence is shaky. Emotionally, they are wrapping up their self-worth in these decisions that are trickling out. Their past 3½ half years, no, their whole life (in their opinion), is up for critical review and judgment by a set of strangers who will decide if they are good enough.

 

While rational adults know that college decisions are not at all indicative of worth, we have to recognize what your teen specifically might be feeling. So with that being said:

It is vital that you celebrate every, and I mean every single, acceptance that they receive. You might have a list of what you consider to be “suitable” colleges. They may early on get into what is considered their ‘safety schools’, the ones you let them apply to because the college counselors recommended it.

 

Even if you do not think you would ever send them to a given school, do not deride it in front of your teen. Every acceptance is a win. It is an indication that their hard work and effort are paying off. So bite your tongue if you must. Look for the good in the school. At the very least, congratulate your teen, give them a big hug, and tell them how proud you are of them. Anything short of that is a failure in their eyes. They are looking to you for support and acceptance as well. They want to know that their achievements are worthy.

 

By saying nothing or by minimizing any acceptance, your child’s anxiety will continue. More than just supporting them emotionally, the future is still a blank page. You don’t know where else they will get accepted. If it turns out that their options are limited to a few of their safety schools, you want them to still be excited about college. By degrading those choices now, choosing a college over the next few months is going to be exceptionally difficult — for everyone involved.

 

And if denials happen, you have to be equally, if not more, supportive. Explain to them that this denial is not a reflection of their hard work, but rather a reflection of the competitive admissions process. Talk to them about denials that you might have faced in your life and how you dealt with them. Explain that where they choose to go to college will not determine their life’s outcome.

 

Rationally, your teen will hear you and understand. Emotionally, they will still be hard on themselves. They will be sad, disappointed, angry, or withdrawn — perhaps some combination of these. They will think the world, at the very least colleges, are unfair. They will undoubtedly know someone that got into a particular school with a “lesser” application.

 

This is a huge parent opportunity for you. This is a time for you teach them to rise above the fray, to be happy for their friends, to be accepting of the decisions they have received. Never ever disparage a school or another student. Doing so does not actually make anything better. Rather it teaches your teen to be resentful. Let them know that it is OK to be upset. Let them know that you are there to support them no matter what. Let them know that in just a few short weeks, this decision will be a thing of the distant past. Focus on the positive — the acceptances they have received.

 

Undoubtedly this is a difficult time for you as well. You are preparing to send your baby off into the world. But you have been thinking about this moment, probably, for your child’s whole life. This, for them, is a new world that they have to learn to navigate and they need your love, support, and guidance along the way.

 

We wish you all the very best,

Team Insight 

Consider Alternatives To The Traditional High School Experience

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For many students, the traditional high school experience is not well suited for them.

 

Unfortunately, these students often trudge through the years getting more and more frustrated and less and less interested in education. The reality is there are alternative options that might work better with their personalities, lifestyles and learning styles.

 

But before we discuss some alternatives, let’s discuss what types of students might want to make a switch.

 

Like every student, every high school has a different personality. And as personalities often do, they can clash. Some high schools are incredibly one-sided in their academic approach — whether with a strong focus on particular fields or one-dimensional. With math and science courses taking the spotlight these days at many schools, those students who want to pursue the social sciences, humanities or even the arts are often left to fend for themselves when it comes to broad academic opportunities.

 

Sadly, I have had incredibly gifted artists get disillusioned because they are often told that “art is a waste of time.” More importantly, others diminish their interests.

 

The reality is that the arts play a huge role in society, and even in technology. Graphic designers and user interface experts often have artistic backgrounds. Additionally, too many schools these days focus on multiple-choice exams, where the gray area between answers does not exist.

 

It is in this gray area where discussion and creativity can make the difference for some students. They thrive in environments where they can talk, challenge perspectives and find compromises. But if the school does not reward this type of thinking, they will be stifled.

 

And some students simply do not connect with the school community. Perhaps a bad experience left them jaded. Perhaps an extended absence due to a variety of reasons kept them from forming strong relationships early on. In many of these cases, looking at alternative programs might be a good way to reboot the high school experience.

 

Many community colleges offer concurrent enrollment programs for high school students. In these programs, students take all of their courses at the community college, making sure to also meet their high school graduation requirements. These programs offer the flexibility of community college. Homework and attendance, while mandatory, tend not to impact grades as much as tests, essays, and projects.

 

Students at community colleges will also come from a wide array of backgrounds and life experiences. The downside is that many of these college students do not really hang around campus before and after classes. Many will shuffle off to work or other obligations. So high school students should not opt for a program like this if they seek a strongly connected community.

 

There are even online high schools that offer a diversity of courses. Through these programs, students will conduct most of their work independently, watch lectures on video or log into live sessions, and then take tests online. The structures can vary. These are incredibly good options for students who have a strong level of self-discipline. It is easy to shrug off work no one is demanding. The benefit is also the flexibility. In many cases, students can do the work during the times they are most productive.

 

One other option would be to look at private or charter schools with curriculums best suited for the student. There is an increasing number of these popping up. While they still require that you complete state graduation requirements, the different structures and other opportunities might make them attractive options. It is worth visiting these schools and sitting in on classes to see if this new environment will make a difference.

 

The key to remember is that you don’t always have to settle for the situation you are in. High school is a time of exploration and transitioning into adulthood. Being a high school student is hard enough; you don’t have to feel trapped in an environment that does not work for you. So if you need a change, seek out your options.

 

Read more about finding your passion and the Archeology of Success in our Insight blogs. 

All the best, 

Team Insight 

Stuck for Summer Plans? Here Are Some Great Bay Area Options!

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There are so many great, competitive programs and options available to students who are planning how to spend their summers. The tough part – how to decide!

 

You can spend your summer doing a variety of things, maybe it’s working part-time while taking an SAT course, perhaps you want to do an internship and then volunteer. Whatever you decide, it can be helpful to begin your planning by checking out some of the local options.

 

We’ve rounded up a few great programs below to help you make an informed decision. ***PLEASE NOTE: the dates provided below are for the year 2018. Please make sure to ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK for 2019 and beyond dates for camps and application deadlines. 

 

Disclaimer: Insight Education is not affiliated with any of the below programs. All information has been taken from the programs websites, which are linked in the descriptions so you can do further research. We strictly recommend contacting any program that you are interested in directly to confirm details, especially deadline dates and costs for the program.  

 

GeneCamp at Stanford is an incredible camp for local high school students that incorporates seminars with renowned scientists in the field to learn more about the science of genomics. If selected, the camp is free to participate in. The application opens on Feb 3 and is due by March 5. Check out their website for more information: http://med.stanford.edu/genecamp.html

 

Girls Who Code is another option that runs for 7 weeks over the summer, with locations in the Bay Area. The camps are free and focused for girls in 10th and 11th grade. You’ll learn computer science through real-world projects in art, storytelling, robotics, video games and more! Visit their website via this link. https://girlswhocode.com/summer-immersion-programs/

 

Hands On Bay Area have a great program called Bay Area Tomorrow which is a local volunteering program that connects you with local non-profit leaders. Plus, you’ll get 55 hours of community service in 2 weeks! See more here https://www.handsonbayarea.org/tomorrow

 

BlueStamp Engineering has programs in Palo Alto and San Francisco, ranging from 2 to 6-week options. The program is for high school students to build engineering projects they are passionate about. Applications are open now! Click here to find out more: http://bluestampengineering.com/

 

The Rosetta Institute has 2-week camps at UCB for students that are interested in Health and Biology. Students live on campus for the duration of the course, and fees range from $1980 upward. Check out their website for more detailed information:  https://www.rosettainstitute.org/

 

The Youth Service Corps – a great one for our Fremont Families! Students can work with the city, engage in their community and earn dozens of volunteering hours with the Youth Service Corps or Counselors In Training (CIT). More information here https://fremont.gov/346/Youth-Service-Corps

 

The Berkeley Business Academy for Youth. This program introduces youth from around the world to the disciplines and skills that make a business work. B-BAY students learn from professors who are at the top of their field and from youth mentors. More info here: http://haas.berkeley.edu/businessacademy/

 

SIP is a summer-long (10-week) research internship program for high-school students in STEM fields. UCSC faculty, graduate students, and post-doctoral researchers provide one-on-one mentoring of these high-school interns. The research projects are real in that they are not made up just for the high-school students; instead students are inserted into existing research projects here at UCSC. This is a highly competitive program. See more here: http://ucsc-sip.org/

 

There are also some interesting summer programs hosted at colleges around California!

UCSD hosts Academic Connections, an opportunity for high school students with a 3.3 or above weighted cumulative GPA to get a jump start on college experiences. Applications are open now and close on June 15th, and have a $100 application fee. This program does require a financial investment, which includes tuition, course materials, housing and all meals, activities and SAT prep. See more about the program and costs here: http://academicconnections.ucsd.edu/

 

Santa Clara University has a young scholars program that allows students to explore the world of higher education in a 5-week intensive program that includes university courses, advising, and meetings with key people on campus. See more about the deadlines and fees here https://www.scu.edu/ysp/

 

Take some time to research what is a good fit for you, and talk to your family and trusted advisors. Your Insight counselor can help you decide which programs are a good fit, and share further programs from our vast database to suit your academic and career interests. Most importantly, we want you to have a fun and productive summer!

 

All the best,

Team Insight  

Make Sure “Senioritis” Doesn’t Spoil Your College Dreams

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After submitting their college applications, I’ll bet what high school seniors want most to do is just relax — something they have not gotten to do in a long while! And while I do believe they deserve to savor these unscheduled and unhurried moments, I would caution them that the effort they just put in can unravel if they let “senioritis” seep in.

 

Their friends may tell them second semester grades do not matter. If that was the case, do you think second semester would exist at all? Of course they still matter. Colleges reserve the right to rescind any offers of admission if academic standards drop. Simply getting one more B than normal is not going to throw an admissions officer into a tizzy, but a startling number of lower grades or a failing grade (and a D counts as a failing grade) can mean lax seniors will have nowhere to attend in the fall.

 

And grades are not the only things that still matter. Admissions officers want to know whether these seniors have kept up with extracurricular activities and other commitments. And, admissions offices regularly check up on those commitments listed on applications.

 

So seniors certainly should not want to quit that club they claimed was their passion as soon as their applications are in. If they plan to exchange some activities for new ones just to explore their interests, that is of course OK, but it should be in line with what was written on the applications. If they know there are going to be major changes in how time is allotted, it would be good to draft up a quick update and send it to the colleges. But before doing that they should think about the impact.

 

And I cannot stress this enough because I have seen it happen to the best of kids — do not get into trouble at school or with the law. Do not cheat on the chemistry test because you were too tired to study. Do not drive with others in your car if your license prohibits it. Yes, these pieces of advice seem almost silly to write, but bad behavior in these last few months can outweigh 17 years of perfection.

 

The lesson is just not to get reckless and believe that you are invincible.

 

But seniors should have fun this semester. The next several weeks are going to be filled with senior activities. This will be their last time with this group of people. Upon graduation, people go their own ways. Seniors should get to know their teachers, and maybe even find out they are really interesting people!

 

“Senioritis” is commonly believed to be a lack of interest in school. But rather, “senioritis” should mean fully immersing yourself in your senior year and all that is has to offer.

 

Class of 2018, we wish you a fun and fruitful rest of your senior year! 

Don’t Seek Summer Internships Just To Impress Admissions Officers

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The rush to get summer internships can feel as intense as the pressure to get into college. There is a misconception that specific internships will get kids into their dream colleges or that certain “unique” experiences will help to set students apart in the admissions process. So students trudge through applications. Teachers are forced to write more letters of recommendation. And school registrars barely take a breather before sending out another set of transcripts. And as with college applications, students tend to apply to too many programs just in the hopes of getting in. In the meantime, parents ready their pocketbooks for another expensive educational investment.

 

But the question has to be asked: are these expensive programs really worth it in the long term?

 

Unfortunately, like with most questions that relate to college admissions, the answer is “it depends.” I always tell my students that the program means nothing if they get nothing from it. In the same vein, students can capture meaning and learning from a variety of summer experiences. I often steer students away from the really pricey and easy-to-get-into programs. Simply doing a program for the sake of doing a program is a waste of time and money. The student could rather have used that time to really pursue his own interests, perhaps found in the smaller or less expensive internship and work opportunities. 

 

Sure, it is cool to say that you worked at this up-and-coming tech company, but if all you did was run errands and answer the phone, the experience is actually not that interesting. Perhaps working a lab will give you a taste of medicine, but don’t expect that you will be discovering a cure for diabetes in just six weeks — science does not work like that. Perhaps you want to be a future CEO, so something business-related appeals to you, but really everything is a business, even the local ice cream shop!

 

Summer used to be a time when kids got to actually relax a bit, ride around on their bikes and explore their surroundings. Students got jobs not because it would look “good” on their college applications, but because they wanted or needed to earn money. Kids would help out their parents with chores around the house or even at their offices. Teens would spend time playing instruments they loved, swim because the weather allowed it, and actually gain a sense of independence — the best preparation for life.

 

While I don’t expect that summers will swing back to those more relaxed times, I do believe there is value in exploring one’s personal and professional interests during those 10 weeks of sunshine. You can combo having some time to participate in your hobbies alongside your summer job or internship. 

 

If you are a teen, think about what would make you the happiest this summer. This does not mean you should while away the summer at the mall or playing video games. But what are the things you simply do not have time to explore during the school year? What experiences have you been craving?

 

Perhaps you are excited about practicing your Spanish and learning about medicine. Maybe you can find an opportunity to volunteer alongside a medical translator. Maybe you want to earn some money and explore business. That local ice cream shop I mentioned is a great way to get experience learning about customer behaviors and how real businesses make money. Maybe surfing has been on your bucket list for a few years now. Wake up early to catch the waves, assuming you live close enough, and then spend your day doing something else.

 

The craze around summer programs directly relates to college experiences. The reality is that admissions officers appreciate these real-life, everyday experiences as much as they do the more structured programs. And the truth is that the real experiences tend to actually be the unique ones because each experience is new rather than scheduled and planned.

 

So while I have no issue with students applying to and going to programs, I do have concerns when that is for the sole purpose of college admissions. Rather, summer is an opportunity for students to demonstrate to colleges their unique interests, experiences, and perceptions. Ultimately, the more meaningful and fulfilling summers tend to be the most interesting to one’s life and, and in turn, on a college application.

 

Students + Sleep = Success

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It is no secret that teens are not getting enough sleep these days. With endless screen time, mounds of homework and crammed schedules, teens are sacrificing sleep just to keep up. And it is not that they are simply losing a few minutes of necessary winks. According to the National Sleep Foundation, teens should average 9.25 hours of sleep each night, or a minimum of 8.5 hours. But the reality is that more than 85 percent do not get the minimum hours. 

 

Sleep is not just something our bodies like to get; it is one of the most basic needs. A lack of sleep can lead to several short and long-term negative consequences. Students who are sleep-deprived often lack focus, are more apt to have aggressive behavior or just be generally cranky, are more likely to get sick, are more prone to skin problems and are more susceptible to extreme weight loss or gain.

So while most people are aware there are negative consequences to sleep deprivation, we still ignore our bodies’ calls for rest. But here are some steps that teens can take to get more rest each night:

• Create and stick to a regular sleep schedule. While getting the required 9.25 hours might seem unfeasible, it is not unreasonable to aim to jump into bed at 10:30. The key is not letting sleep be last on your priority list. If it is important to you to be asleep at a certain time, make that your priority. You do not need to be up until 2 a.m. each night to get your work done. In fact, I have seen incredibly successful students go to bed at a decent hour.

• Avoid technology late at night. There has been much chatter about the effects of blue light on brain activity and that it stimulates our senses. More importantly, teens are lying in bed texting, Facebooking, chatting or just browsing before going to sleep. The minutes often roll into hours. That combined with the cognitive impact of blue light means less sleep. That late-night browsing is usually unproductive and unnecessary, so cross it off the bedtime routine.

• Study at your desk and not in bed. Your bed should be your haven. Don’t let it be the place where you also study. You should study at your desk. Ideally, your desk is in another room so you can really focus.

• Create a study schedule that works for you to ward off procrastination. All-nighters and late night study sessions are not completely avoidable, but they should not be the norm. Plan to get work done ahead of time so you can limit last-minute study sessions. Create strict goals, such as planning to get essays done three days in advance. The more structured you are with your study habits, the more sleep you will get.

• Sleep at night is better, but naps are a close second. Often, I hear about students who are so exhausted after school that they come home and nap for an hour or two. While they feel refreshed after this nap, they also experience a burst of energy late at night. And hence the cycle continues. If you must nap, aim for a 20-minute power nap and make it a goal to go to bed on time that night.

• Don’t let the weekends throw you off. It can be tempting to stay up late Friday and Saturday and sleep until noon on the weekends. But this simply means that Monday morning is going to be all the more painful. While you don’t need to get up as early on weekends as you do during the week, try not to let your sleep schedule waver by more than 30 to 60 minutes. Your body needs regularity. It does not differentiate between Tuesday and Saturday.

Sleep will always be a necessity. Technology and crazy schedules have now become part of our lives. Rather than pitting our health against these new forces, we have to learn to cope and be disciplined. Teens especially need the extra hours as their brains and bodies are still developing.

 

Creating an Admissions Appropriate Online Persona

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The advent of technology certainly has made the college admissions process easier and more accessible to the nearly 2 million high school seniors who apply each year. But it has also made our lives so much more transparent and visible than ever before. And college admissions officers, trying to glean as much as they can about their candidates, have begun turning to the Internet to do so.

While many kids choose to turn off their social media accounts during the important admissions season, I would recommend letting admissions officers into your online lives a little bit more — but do so very carefully.

Most teenagers these days have Facebook accounts, Instagram accounts, and more and more are tweeting regularly. Some are even on LinkedIn hoping to get a jump start on their networking. And while teens typically look to social media for staying connected and keeping up, it can also be a huge opportunity to show admissions officers what you do in your free time.

So follow these steps for creating an admissions appropriate online persona:

• Privatize whatever you don’t want admissions officers to see, whether pictures or posts. While you cannot control what others post, you can control what others see. You should become familiar with the different privacy settings and test them out as soon as possible. If there are pictures up that you definitely don’t want viewed by admissions officers, or anyone, kindly ask the people who posted them to remove them. If your online self simply does not show you in a positive light and no amount of fidgeting with settings will change that, then block anyone you don’t know from seeing your information. But you should also then think about what you post going forward. These sites are not going anywhere and admissions officers and even employers will be checking them out in their decision making process.

• Watch the language. Whether you are tweeting, writing wall posts or making comments, be aware of your language. Definitely no cursing allowed. Write intelligently and thoughtfully. Don’t write anything you would not want your mother to see. Don’t write something that you wouldn’t say in person – just because you have the mask of your social profile, make sure whatever you are saying is something you would be comfortable saying in-person. 

• Do damage control. Go through your online profiles for the last two years. If you are unsure about something that is posted, delete it. Err on the side of being too cautious. While admissions officers will not spend hours digging through your profiles, you only have one opportunity to make a first impression, so make sure that any click one would make on your profiles would lead to something interesting and positive.

• Post about the positive things in your life! If you had an amazing debate round, or really connected with someone you volunteered with, or had a really amazing volleyball match, feel free to post. If you philosophically disagree with a theory you are learning in economics, are excited about spending the holidays with your favorite cousins, or are counting down the days until the next school dance, feel free to post.

• Be yourself and post about things that are important to you. Doing so will let admissions officers learn more about what you think about in your spare time and how you interact with others. If you love to blog about current events, make those blogs public. If you watch all the new movies and immediately write reviews, make those reviews available. You can still be a teenager. You certainly should not try to be someone you are not. Rather, this is an opportunity to highlight what you want others to see — exactly what you are trying to do in your college applications.

Social media makes it easier for people to see what you don’t want them to see, but it can also be a great opportunity to give others a glimpse into who you are. Rather than wasting that chance, make the most of it by making the most of all that technology has to offer.

Set Goals for The New Academic Year

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Summer is a great time to really think about the past year and to set goals for the upcoming one. While you might want to block out what happened the previous academic year, remember that we have to learn from our successes and our failures. This will help you to set appropriate goals and strategies for the upcoming year. Find a time when you can really sit down and think about the past year. Even if you had the best academic year of your life, there is still value in reflection. Think of this as New Year’s resolutions for the school year. The key is making them stick.

The first thing you want to do is to take stock. Either think about or write down your responses to the following questions.

• What could you have done differently or better? This can be general or specific to each one of your classes in school. Be as specific as you can here. Something general like “study more” does not really help you at all. And an answer like that is really the easy way out. How could you have studied differently? Would you change the location or the time of studying? Would you study two or four days in advance?

• What habits would you like to improve? How could this have helped your performance last year? Examples of habits include time management, study skills, sleep, etc. Before you fall into the same bad habits again, pick the few that you really want to improve upon.

• Reflect on how and where you were most successful. What was it about those experiences that led to your success? Success does not just happen; you work for it. Don’t just dwell on the instances when success was not at your fingertips. Think about the times when your efforts were rewarded. What can you learn from those?

• How did your strengths shine through? We all have strengths. By better understanding those strengths, we can use them to be more effective. You might realize that you are really great at managing and leading others. You might want to take the lead on group projects. You might find that you are fantastic at editing papers. Perhaps you can help a friend edit a paper and she can help you with the format of a lab report. Now, I am not advocating for cheating here, but rather using your skills to help others and vice versa.

• What was your responsibility in the things that did not go well? It is often too easy to blame others for our own shortcomings. If you had a flimsy relationship with a teacher and your grades plummeted because of a lack of communication, what could you have done to strengthen that relationship? If your group for a project did not carry its weight and produce a quality project, how could you have more effectively managed communication or the members?

Once you have really dissected the past year, you can more effectively plan for the upcoming year. So let’s set some goals:

• What grades do you want to achieve this year and how will you do it? The second part of this question is actually the most important. Think strategically about the five or six things you must do to be successful.

• Outside of academics, what do you hope to accomplish? List five things you want to happen through your extracurricular activities, and how you plan to make them a reality.

• You are likely going to be taking some standardized tests this year. Map out which ones you plan to take and how and when you will study for them.

• What are your personal goals for the year? While school and extracurricular activities will certainly eat up quite a bit of your time, remember that this is your life. You probably have interests outside formal activities and school. Think about five things you would like to have happen this year. They can be simple things like reading 10 books or learning how to cook four of your favorite dishes.

Before the last days of summer disappear and you are suddenly in the thick of the academic year, take just a few minutes to reflect and plan. Your year will go by more smoothly and with less stress.

Tips for The New Senior Class

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It is so hard to imagine that this year’s senior class has finally grown up. I have known many of my seniors since they were unsure, shy, aspiring underclassmen. Now they are the ones who are going to rule the school. Being a senior is not just a rite of passage; with the privileges come great responsibility. Here are do’s and don’ts to remember:

– Do think about your future and what you want to do after high school. It can be too easy to push off major decisions about your future until the future becomes your present. However, doing so is going to limit your opportunities down the road. Start developing your plans now.

– Don’t procrastinate on your college applications. How you work on your applications not only determines where you will get accepted, but also so much about your personality. Be thorough. Be detail-oriented. Be timely. Respect those who are helping you through the process, including your counselors and recommenders.

– Don’t forget that school still matters. Regardless of your plans next year, you are in school for a reason and that is to learn. Take every opportunity you can to learn as much as you can!

– Do remember that “senioritis” is not a real affliction. Getting bored of school is not a real medical or psychological condition. Really, it is just a made-up excuse to let school fall low on your priority list.

– Don’t’ forget to have fun! This is the last year that you will be spending with many of the people you have seen at least 200 days a year for perhaps the last 12 years. Your childhood friends will hold a special place in your life and the memories you create now will last for many years to come.

– Do learn the essential skills that you will need beyond high school. Get your license if you don’t have it already. Learn to do laundry — it is more complicated than you can imagine. Learn to cook — cereal does not count. Really learn to cook a few of your favorite dishes.

– Do get a job at some point in the next year. The money is certainly one piece of it. The more important reason, though, is that you are going to learn a new set of skills that no textbook will teach you.

– Don’t forget that this is more than another year of high school. This is another year of your life. Use this year to also pursue your personal interests. Perhaps you have been wanting to pick up the ukulele or read the entire Harry Potter series. Whatever it is big or small, explore all of your interests.

– Do savor every moment of this year. It is going to fly by faster than you can even realize right now.

All the best!

Your Insight Team

Is Working Part-Time During High School Really Possible?

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Yes! 

I started working unofficially at the age of 7, helping my aunt file papers in her small accounting practice. When I turned 14, I got my first real job, at McDonald’s — the only place that would hire anyone so young at that time. And on the day I turned 16, I went from my driving test straight to the bookstore where I would work until college. Not only did I have to work to be able to pay for the activities I wanted to participate in, but I wanted to work.

One of our other counselors was taking orders in her parents’ coffee shop as soon as she could reach the cash register. Another worked as a waitress throughout high school and college. She can handle tough people like nobody’s business. One of our students takes the bus from school to her job at an office supply store three days a week, and manages to keep a 3.8 GPA.

But more and more these days, I see parents not wanting their kids to work while in school. For some it is a pride issue — “we don’t need the money.” For others, they don’t want their kids to focus on a short-term job and lose sight of a long-term career. And for a few, they really just don’t see value in their kids having a job. But beyond the hourly wage, there are many benefits to having a part-time job while in high school and college.

  • Awareness of money. Learning how to handle one’s personal finances is not a skill best learned in the classroom. On my first day of work, I remember thinking I would make enough money that day to buy the really cool pair of jeans there was no way my aunt was going to buy me. But I quickly realized that the IRS has something to say in how much money I actually take home. I also realized that working was a privilege. I worked alongside others who were trying to raise families and live off the meager wages. I learned to respect the work I was doing, no matter how mundane or menial. The jeans really did not seem important anymore.
  • Learn responsibility and time management. If you show up late for work or don’t show up at all, someone is probably going to get pretty mad at you. You might get yelled at. You might even get fired. Your parents might forgive you, but the company you work for will always remember. Working teaches teens that they are accountable to somebody and that there are consequences to not performing. And during the time they are at work, they will be forced to complete tasks on time. They will more easily learn to multitask and manage their time simply because there is no other option.
  • Deal with difficult people. There is nothing like getting yelled at by someone over a mistaken order or a long wait to teach people how to learn with difficult personalities. Customer service is at the center of most jobs teens can take on, and it is a skill that will serve them well throughout their lives. This type of social development rarely happens in schools. Don’t shield your kids from these experiences. They will make them stronger, more capable of being out in the real world.
  • Strengthen a resume. One job leads to another and another. The skills you learn from one job will help you when you apply for another, and so on. If you wait until the summer after your first in year in college to get a job, you are going to be competing with others who already have more experience than you. More importantly, you are developing strong skills — responsibility, money management, initiative, customer service, problem solving, and the list goes on. These skills are as valuable to an employer as specific technical know-how.
  • Colleges love work experience. I am hesitant to list this as a reason to work, because it should not be the reason to get a job. But the reality is that colleges love to see that students have had real-world experience, that they have ventured out of their comfort zone, and that they have learned important life skills. It likely means that you will take college more seriously.

The most important thing that teens learn when they get a job is independence, something most crave immensely but often don’t know what to do with once they have it. A job may also show them what they would like to do with their lives, and equally importantly it might show them exactly how they do not want to spend their lives. Both are valuable learnings!

So rather than discourage work during high school and college, encourage it. 

 

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