Every Parent's Internal Secret
Every parent's internal secret that we all live with forever is-
Did we get it right when it counted most...college that is!
Not college for us, ha, my college career spanned a few years with a 5-year stint with the USAF stuck in the middle of it. I graduated as a 27-year-old.
I went to work right away in Public Accounting and had my CPA secured soon thereafter. I think things worked out well. At least my Mom always thought so.
However, Mom felt a sense of need to apologize to me 20 years later for not doing enough to help me get college right. She felt that she needed to apologize to once and finally get the burden off her shoulders. Can you imagine that?
Much of that inspired me to do this work. Sure, I do it expressly to help kids live the life they want for themselves. But I also knew clearly that I can help parents get college right for their kids, living without the burden of their mistakes made when their kids needed them most to be on top of their game.
We all live quietly everyday with the internal secret of knowing whether we got it right or not.
While parents can fake it outwardly to the rest of the world, no one can fake it internally. Either you got it right or you didn't. There's no middle ground.
For those who get it right, they live forever being freed of the guilt that comes with getting it wrong.
You see, getting college right is definitely centered on your child's interests, but it has lifelong ramifications on parents.
And just to be sure, a last minute scramble to drop off the child at a so-called "elite" college doesn't constitute getting it right.
Paying $75,000 for an overpriced college doesn't constitute getting it right.
Making a FB post proclaiming how proud you are of your child doesn't constitute getting it right.
To rely on the school's Guidance/ College Counselor along with their Naviance "scatter-gram" college selection approach does not constitute getting it right.
Randomly applying to high-ranked schools with incomplete applications and horrible essays does not constitute getting it right.
Just getting applications submitted under the deadline with no follow-up or follow-through does not constitute getting it right.
This process cannot be an overnight effort. It can't be an after-thought. Rather it's a long time in the works.
I'm reminded of this every morning, including this morning when a parent announced to me that "We talked and we're ready to submit ED to Miami."
Months have gone into that decision...trips, airline tickets, hotels, visiting colleges, meeting counselors, building credentials, writing essays...the list goes on.
All that work results in exploration, self-discovery, and realizations, the things required to get college right.