Next Office Hour - Rethinking Achievement Culture and the College Search

The college search has turned into a series of hoops that students jump through each year of high school: they feel like they need to take demanding classes, score high on the SAT/ACT, and make sure they have a legion of extracurricular activities for their applications. But for what—to do it all again in college?   

As the author Jennifer Breheny Wallace examines in her new bestselling book, “Never Enough,” this achievement culture has only resulted in skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, and even self-harm among American teenagers. We’re crushing our kids all in the hopes that they get into the “right” school (whatever that means) and end up on the right side of the economic divide. Whatever happened to just being a normal teenager who does well in school and participates in activities they like and then heads off to a college–but not necessarily one with an acceptance rate in the single digits?  

During this special evening edition of the Office Hour, we’ll explore how parents, families, and educators can help today’s students regain control over the admissions process by adopting the language and values of “mattering” with teenagers and assisting these emerging adults to become valuable contributors to a larger community.   

Among the issues that will be discussed, along with input from the live chat:

✅ How do we broaden our consideration of success and what makes for a “good school”?  

✅ Ways we can lower the temperature on the demands of getting into the “right” school and make high school fun again.  

✅ How to talk openly about what matters to success in high school, college, and beyond.