highschool

Grades Don’t Buy Happiness

Posted by fhendrick on Mar 11, 2011 in Blog, College, High School | 0 comments

Young women hold in their hands literally a world of colorful possibilities, perhaps unprecedented, for exciting, one-of-a-kind lives.

But how many of your friends do you see moving in that direction? How about you? Why do we throw away the opportunity for remarkable lives?

There are lots of reasons to choose to play it safe – to choose to be a zoo assistant instead of an oceanographer, a day care teacher instead of a psychologist, a follower instead of a leader. Part of it is the subtle message, conveyed more to girls than to boys, not to dream too big.

But I find with many women that another huge part of it is that we’re not taught how to take on and walk through tough challenges. Couple that with the clamor for a 4.0, and you’ll witness stretch goals being replaced with sure things.

It used to be that the pressure for grades began at age six. That was the point at which the educational system warped children’s natural curiosity,

You, Mom & Dad: an evolving relationship

Posted by fhendrick on Nov 3, 2010 in Blog, High School | 0 comments

Navigating your relationship with your parents as you move into adult independence and responsibility can be hard for you and hard for them.

You can count on five things as you begin to strike out on your own.  If you’re in conflict with your parents, chances are one or more of these factors is in play.

Resolving the AP Dilemma

Posted by fhendrick on Aug 9, 2010 in Blog, High School | 0 comments

Should you sign up for Advanced Placement courses during your junior and senior years? It’s an important choice without a simple answer.

It’s more work (you might be thinking) — but there’s college credit — but it might be really difficult — but a challenge feels good… but I still want time to hang out and have fun — but not taking AP courses might really be selling myself short –

Round and round you go.

Here are a few tips to help you make this decision.

First — Take off the rose-colored glasses and honestly assess your level of commitment.  AP courses are great – and they require you to set aside a daily block of time in order to be successful.  Taking an AP course and not devoting the necessary time to it will get you poor results.  That can decrease your confidence and will not be an asset to your transcript.

Does that mean you should back out?  Absolutely not. But remember, being smart isn’t enough.