Gap Year Advice: Talk to Strangers

“Don’t talk to strangers” is the single worst piece of cultural brainwashing that we’ve perpetrated on children in the past couple of generations. While statistics are pointing to the fact that America is safer than it’s been since the mid-sixties, we continue to frighten each other into believing that we are at constant risk of[…]

Preparing Students to Leave: Skill Building for Families

My friend tells the story of going on a college visit to NYC with her, then, 17 year old daughter. The first night in the city her daughter and a friend announced that they wanted to take off on the subway to go to dinner and have an adventure. My friend’s instinct was to say,[…]

China: When One Trip Changes Everything

It was 20 years ago this past winter that I got an unshakable idea in my head. It was initiated by a flyer posted in my university department building about a semester abroad in China. All things Asian, specifically China, fascinated me. My head and heart were deep in Eastern philosophy and religion and I[…]

Don’t Call it a Gap Year: Here’s Why

There is a nasty smell that hangs around the word Gap Year. One of the main reasons Gap Years have started to give off this foul odor is due to their association with volunteerism. A Volunteer Story… If you do not yet know what volunteerism, here is a little visualization. Harry, a well-meaning individual and[…]

5 Questions Every High School Student Should Ask Before Going to College

If the usual path taken from high school straight to college doesn’t seem sensible to you, believe me, you are not alone. There are thousands of students out there who don’t really like the idea, but too often we go along with this forced transition from one environment full of academic pressure to another just[…]