Blog
What Should Tenth Graders Plan for Their Coming Summer?
February 2024
High school tenth graders, listen up! As that school bell rings, signaling the start of summer break, are you anticipating weeks of fun and freedom?
How about a summer “passion”? A Passion Project is freedom and fun – you freely choose and pursue it for joy!
But what's a Passion Project? A Passion Project is a research or creative endeavor that takes you deeply into problems you care about and pushes you to develop skills that make you proud.
Oh, the places you'll go!
May 2023
Graduating this month? Then you might be one of hundreds of thousands of grads who’ll be gifted with Oh, the Places You’ll Go! (It typically sells around 800,000 copies each year.)
This Dr. Seuss favorite is a rollicking rhyme of the lovely places you could go as a newly-minted grad. But it’s balanced with sobering words about places you won’t want to go – the Bang-ups, the Hang-ups, the Not-So-Good Street, the Lurch, the Slump, and Streets that aren’t marked.
Sounds like you’ll need some maps, New Grads, to find your way through these lands! But let’s focus on just one essential map – actually called a “MAP.”
Will College Change My Kid?
(And Will I Like It?)
(And Will I Like It?)
March 2023
A mother once complained to me that, when her son went off to a well-regarded Lutheran college, “he lost his faith.”
But a few years later, when I asked how things now stood with her son, she chuckled, “Oh, he’s doing great. The more we talked during his college years, the more MY faith was changed.”
That’s how it goes in college – and parenthood. Bedrock certainties and trusted authorities will change and continue to evolve if education is effective.
TOBE NWIGWE WANTS YOU TO HAVE PURPOSE
December 2022
Tobe Nwigwe, a captivating rapper from Houston, has just been nominated for a Grammy award as Best New Artist of 2022. And he’s a featured actor in the Netflix series, “Mo. But now he’s starring in his most fulling role as the promoter of Purpose for young people. Wherever Tobe appears, he proclaims that his purpose is, “Making Purpose Popular.”
Why purpose?
yOUR cOLLEGE lIST IN tHREE sTEPS
OCTOBER 2022
This is a blog post about how to create a “College List.” But let me beat this drum for a moment. . .
Every September students face a terrible temptation: the publication of the latest edition of U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges. Will you drink the Kool-Aid of this cult of rankings?
Please. Please! RESIST!
which student profile is so good,
it's spooky?
it's spooky?
September 2022
Here’s the first step to imagine your future and life’s purpose: “Know thyself!”
As Anita Moore, from Bend High School’s Future Center, says, “Once you understand yourself, you can begin to imagine your future.”
But how do you begin that self-discovery? Anita heartily recommends students start with YouScience. Anita gave me access to a trial account, and I agree with her – it’s spooky accurate!
How to Choose a College
August 2022
In a recent op-ed a college president addressed the question, “How to Make a Life-Defining Decision.”
Choosing a college is such a decision.
The author Dr. Russ Roberts looked at the decision-making process of the scientist Charles Darwin. With his analytical, fact-driven mind, Darwin made a list of pro’s and con’s about the decision he was facing: should he marry?
The con’s included missing going out at night to enjoy the conversation of “clever men at clubs,” being “forced to visit relatives & bend in every trifle” and its “terrible loss of time,” “perhaps my wife won’t like London” so he would be banished to some backwater town, to become an “indolent, idle fool."
The pro’s included “constant companion (& friend in old age),” “better than a dog anyhow,” “someone to take care of house.”
What did this genius decide?
College Students’ Mental Health:
The Key Statistic You Must Know
July 2022
At a Fourth of July gathering an acquaintance confided that her grandson had withdrawn from his college freshman year and now is cloistered in the family basement. He’s too troubled to take next steps, whether that’s a job or a community college course -- let alone returning to his college in the fall.
He has no plan, and that only deepens his gloom.
Newspapers and personal confidences are all telling the same alarming story: America’s young people are struggling with mental health issues.
What does this mean for you as you prepare for college? As you’ve compiled your college lists, you’ve looked at rankings, dorm life, even campus food – but have you examined retention?
The Great Resignation
and
The Great Redirection
June 2022
Did you realize that many of our high school seniors have opted out of college? This year, with an abundance of open jobs offering $17/hour and more, many graduating seniors have done the math and chosen to work rather than study. Instead of burdening their parents and themselves with college debt, many grads are deciding to work and help with family bills (or strike out on their own). After all, a $20/hour full-time job will earn almost $40,000 – that’s a huge boon for struggling families.
The Great Resignation among working adults has created the Great Redirection for high school grads.
A recent conversation with a Bend, Oregon high school counselor explored the stakes for her students and society. She wondered whether her students will ever return to the classroom after a few years of work. If they do return, will they have lost their student’s edge, forgetting the academic and self-management skills that took so long to foster? Finally (and most troubling): will choosing today’s fast money and pleasure become a way of life, undermining the grit and foresightedness so crucial to success?
I share her worries but will add one more. Will these students never discover their life’s calling? By opting for a paycheck today, will they learn to see their lives as a series of indifferent jobs that simply pay the bills? Will they never develop a deeply felt sense of calling, where a higher purpose inspires their work – wherever they may toil?
The AdMission Attitude
January 2022
You’ll be successful as you apply to schools, be a student, and embrace post-school life if you have a sense of mission, an AdMission Attitude!
But how do you get that attitude -- especially at this early point of applying to college? Here’s the key thing is – stop thinking about applying to college and start focusing on connecting with experts.
First, begin to clarify your mission. Do some thoughtful exploration of what gives you joy – which is joyous in itself! What type of experiences, people and problems can hold your attention for hours? (Dr. Swenson can assist you with this crucial step.)
In College Admissions, Who is the Selector?
November 2021
College Selection Season is upon us. But who’s doing the selecting?
Rather than see a college as “selecting” you, why not reimagine yourself as selecting the college? Just that simple action of seeing yourself as the selector ensures you will be successful in college and life!
Research shows that success in college, work and life depends upon that spirit of engagement – not where you go to school. What exactly does “engagement” mean? You are driven to seek out the resources, people and experiences you need to have a joyful, purpose-filled life. If you take that drive to engage into any college, you will be successful on campus, and later in career and life.
Can Teens Manage the Destructive Demands of an Instagram Culture?
September 2021
This morning's Wall Street Journal reveals that Facebook has known for over a year that Instagram can corrode a teenager's wellbeing. Facebook, Instagram's parent, conducted its own internal studies that conclude:
“We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls,” said one slide from 2019,
summarizing research about teen girls who experience the issues.
“Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression,” said another slide.
“This reaction was unprompted and consistent across all groups.”
Among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 13% of British users and 6% of American users
traced the desire to kill themselves to Instagram, one presentation showed.
According to the Journal, Facebook has attempted to buffer these destructive impacts by partnering with nonprofits that promote "emotional resilience," such as the practicing of "daily affirmations to remind themselves that, 'I am in control of my experience on Instagram.'"
But, can Teens actually DO this?