What! Me Worry? 0

Dear Class of 2022 and beyond, 

One of the most popular humor magazines, when I was in high school, was MAD magazine. Are you familiar with it? Staring out on each issue’s cover was the silly looking young man on the left. He was Alfred E. Neuman with his perpetual gaped tooth grin and his now universally known exclamation “What! me worry?” It was a timeless teenage sentiment. Can you identify with that? If you have completed your sophomore year, congratulations, you are now a high school junior ~ the largest; most competitive college-bound class in American history! Do not worry.

But do pay attention. You may now be in the same place I was way back when. Perhaps you are fifteen or sixteen years old with vague college aspirations? You may not have any specific reason to go to college other than it is the expected thing to do, and/or everyone else is doing it. Well, not everyone is planning on college and some of your classmates will probably not go to college. That is, not a four year liberal arts college. They may want to get technical training education or some sort of certification, however.

Have you given much thought to your post secondary school options? At this point in your life, I would be surprised that you have. However, if you seriously interested in going to college you might want to put a plan in place that will be practical and lead to sure-fire acceptance letters from your top choice colleges in less than two years from now.

Did you know that a ton of kids go off to college without a clue! Many are like you. Bright teenagers that have made $212,000 decisions . . . alone! You don’t want to make a decision of that magnitude without some help do you? Especially if you have brothers or sisters who have similar aspirations!

Selecting a college is a process that involves several important steps. I will just mention a few here. Hopefully, you are now taking courses in high school that challenge your critical thinking skills. Apply those skills now. Take some time and examine your goals, your values, your interests and your abilities. Write them down. Begin a file for thoughts on college, or for that matter, any ideas you may have for what you want to do after high school.

College catalogs will offer a myriad of choices (both academic and non-academic) that may overwhelm you. To help you decide how to take full advantage of the college experience an increasing number of educators suggest doing a thoughtful self-assessment. To make it easy for you, we have found the personality assessment based on Dr. Carl Jung’s many years study of human behavior to be a good place to start.

Jung’s work is the basis on which the authors of the book Do What You Are expound. (I love that name, don’t you?). This insightful assessment is one of four (4) we have our students do. It will help you select colleges intelligently with a focus on the appropriate fields of study and other criteria you believe to be important. It will bring to light areas in which you have strong personal interest and potential for success based on your natural strengths. That is one of the most exciting parts of the college planning process. Thousands of kids before you can attest to that.

Incidentally, if you have already done these very insightful self-assessments with me, now is the time to revisit them and review yours. Yes, yours! Remember it is all about you and the sooner you realize, appreciate what your natural strengths and innate characteristics are, the better.

If you are an athlete, you may understand that very well. That is, doesn’t your coach put you in positions where your natural skills best benefit the team? Also, doesn’t a coach say to take advantage of the opposing team’s weaknesses? That is life, but life is not a game. You are here for a reason. Many of us who have a certain level of spiritual awareness say that we are ALL here to help one another, not to beat up on one another. I agree. But ultimately, you will determine what part you will play in your journey. But I can help you get started in the right direction.

By the way, did you know that Alfred E. Neuman went to Cooper Union? Who would have ‘thunk it’. The good news is that you do not have to go to such a competitive college to be happy or successful. There are many great colleges out there. Many you have not even heard of yet. With our help you will learn about them as you progress through the college selection process that may very well be the first milestone step of your life.

Best wishes for happiness and success in college and beyond, Eric Goodhart (978) 820-1295 or email: ~ help@SmartCollegePlanning.org