Thank you for this and for highlighting one of the things that drives me, as a higher ed person, absolutely batty: the myth of competitive admissions. I do A LOT of work with talking to students and parents about how college admissions really works and the one thing I wish all families would internalize is that the majority of colleges accept the majority of their applicants. People worry way too much about extracurriculars and test scores when, for the majority of college students, those won't matter in any meaningful way.
Interrupting this cycle of worry when most students have no need to feel such stress is a great thing. So many first-year students I worked with would talk about all the extracurriculars they spent their time on, saying they had no interest in a lot of them, but they felt compelled to build a resume for college. Then they get in and realize that it was largely a waste of their time.
Yes! I always tell parents (because I think parents really drive this anxiety) that extracurriculars are great for having fun, meeting people, exploring an interest (and then dropping it if they don't like it) but they are almost entirely meaningless for admissions and scholarships. Just, like, let high school kids do stuff that is fun.
Amen X 1000. I had a writing assignment for students that asked them to write a letter to their past self and give them advice and often they wrote to their high school selves and told themselves to "do less." I recall a very wry/funny one that was titled, "You'll Never Figure Out What Key Club Is Supposed to Do."
We seem to be moving backwards in so many ways, but it's most acute in the state of our educational system and how we have taken the joy and incentive away from the teaching profession.
I appreciate the book titles you have included for a deeper dive into where we are and possible future solutions.
Thank you for this timely and thoughtful piece, John!
John, I spent 10 years teaching, or attempting to teach, in public schools, for my sins, and this piece explains why it was, except for the moments when I actually worked with students, such a sad and frustrating experience. Thank you for posting this.
Thank you for this and for highlighting one of the things that drives me, as a higher ed person, absolutely batty: the myth of competitive admissions. I do A LOT of work with talking to students and parents about how college admissions really works and the one thing I wish all families would internalize is that the majority of colleges accept the majority of their applicants. People worry way too much about extracurriculars and test scores when, for the majority of college students, those won't matter in any meaningful way.
Interrupting this cycle of worry when most students have no need to feel such stress is a great thing. So many first-year students I worked with would talk about all the extracurriculars they spent their time on, saying they had no interest in a lot of them, but they felt compelled to build a resume for college. Then they get in and realize that it was largely a waste of their time.
Yes! I always tell parents (because I think parents really drive this anxiety) that extracurriculars are great for having fun, meeting people, exploring an interest (and then dropping it if they don't like it) but they are almost entirely meaningless for admissions and scholarships. Just, like, let high school kids do stuff that is fun.
Amen X 1000. I had a writing assignment for students that asked them to write a letter to their past self and give them advice and often they wrote to their high school selves and told themselves to "do less." I recall a very wry/funny one that was titled, "You'll Never Figure Out What Key Club Is Supposed to Do."
That is an *amazing* title.
We seem to be moving backwards in so many ways, but it's most acute in the state of our educational system and how we have taken the joy and incentive away from the teaching profession.
I appreciate the book titles you have included for a deeper dive into where we are and possible future solutions.
Thank you for this timely and thoughtful piece, John!
John, I spent 10 years teaching, or attempting to teach, in public schools, for my sins, and this piece explains why it was, except for the moments when I actually worked with students, such a sad and frustrating experience. Thank you for posting this.