Why and How You Go to College is More Important Than Where

<p><strong>SHOWNOTES:</strong></p> <p>Having the autonomy to choose college and focusing on how they use their university experience will allow women to get the most from their experience</p> <p>We need to debunk the myth that you must go to an elite college to be successful despite pressures from the education system, teachers, colleges, and the culture</p> <p>We also need to reframe the belief that there is one path to success, i.e., straight A’s, top college, top job, making a lot of money</p> <p>Learn how to ask girls why they love what they do, i.e. color, draw, soccer, theater, then reflect back their feelings and thoughts so they internalize it as their intrinsic motivation</p> <p>Supporting their intrinsic motivation throughout childhood sets kids up to think for themselves and go inward for knowing what’s best for them</p> <p>What really matters are how well you use the university you go to and <strong>what you demand of it</strong>. Focus on using those years to come of age, bust out of your comfort zone, try new subjects and activities, reinvent yourself, travel abroad vs. just recreate your high school experience; expand yourself and being open to change and growth</p> <p>What is harder to measure but far more important is a young adult’s level of grit, optimism, integrity, people skills, street smarts, stamina, and determination, engagement in jobs or internships or hobbies and passions; thus be aware of what you are focusing on and where you put your energy</p> <p>Teach your kids that <strong>WHY</strong> they are choosing a college is more important than where they end up. <strong>HOW</strong> they do their college experience is also more valuable than the name of the university. Have the courage to swim against the tide of parents and an educational system obsessed with the elite college myth.</p> <p>Encourage teens to be the architect their college experience, do it their way & for their reasons & focus less on name across sweatshirt</p> <p><strong>Invictus,</strong> William Ernest Henley</p> <p