For High School Counselors
Brief excerpts taken from a longer letter
in the book
I have been involved in the development and direction of college admissions and advising programs
for many years. So I know very well the extraordinary job that guidance counselors do to —
- See that students stay on an academic track toward graduation.
- Help students understand what’s necessary during transitions: moving from middle school
to high school, from one year to the next, and finally, moving from high school to college.
- Help students set goals for today, for tomorrow, and for the rest of their lives.
Filling the educational gap
Counselors, advisers, enlightened teachers, and school administrators know this axiom particularly
applies to students as they advance in school:
As students grow older, course content becomes more complex
and requires more individual initiative and personal responsibility.
Simultaneously, however, teachers become “specialists”
who teach their subject, and who have less and less time
helping students learn how to learn.
Who fills the gap?
Typically, the gap is filled by counselors, advisers, learning skills teachers, and a host of educational
specialists. They fill the role of personal adviser for students — and it is a critical one.
Serving the whole student
In my experience, I encountered the frustration of trying to deal with students’ day-to-day issues.
These issues often loomed large in their minds, distracting them as I was trying to help them focus
on longer-term academic goals — which, to them, did not loom so large.
Are You Really Ready For College? is a distillation of what thousands of high school and college students
have told me and taught me. Review the 12 Strategies in this guidebook. They will give you a platform for helping
students in a structured and concrete way that students can follow.
And furthermore, I hope your experience is the same as mine. Once you get young people to work on
managing their lives on a daily basis, you can better help them manage their academic and personal
lives on a long-term basis.
You’re in a pivotal position to help them understand themselves better and begin to shape a
future they can
truly call their own.
View my blog at: areyoureallyreadyforcollege.blogspot.com
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