Your child's departure for college is a big step. But the journey from cradle to campus is filled with countless little steps-each an opportunity to prepare for letting go. Many times helicopter parents think that they are helping their child succeed in life by being involved in almost every aspect of their life.  However, what is going to happen when the parents are no longer available.  We have all heard stories of parents bombarding teachers, coaches, college admission officers, professors and even employers on their child's behalf. 
One has to wonder whether these parents have a life of their own or whether their whole sense of being is wrapped up in their child. 
Sometimes a child learns more in failure but there still has to be some education to help them through the journey.  

To get started:  Take a deep breath. Give your child a chance to work things out.  Don't rush in at every little sign that things aren't going as planned.  If the child doesn't get the chance to problem solve early on then they will have even more trouble as their problems grow in complexity as they get older. Learning to have patience and working through things may be frustrating to your toddler and it may seem
easier to rush in and help them out, but the lessons they learn will pay dividends later on. Many parents think that their job is to keep their child from experiencing any sense of sadness.  However, learning to handle frustration on their own is an important first step to learning to problem solve when the answer doesn't appear right away.

Posted on: May 1, 2010
Last weekend the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association held it annual conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.  The highlight of the Conference was the performances of the State Honors Band and Orchestra and the State Wind ensemble and Chorus.  Much like Athletes, these performers had to undergo a selection process in which they competed against other students.  From the District to the Region and finally being selected for All State Honors these students had to put in the practice time and deal with the stress of performing their best under the watchful eyes of judges.  Congratulations to not only the All State performers but also to all the performers who put it on the line during the auditions!

Posted on: March 25, 2010
The month of March is usually reserved for deciding championships in all if not most winter sports.  However, it is also the month when students in the field of the fine arts are also preparing and performing at their best.  Spring is not only the time for music festivals and PMEA Adjudications but also the traditional high school spring musical.  So not only are high school music students and their teachers preparing for their own competitions but in many instances are also part of  their high schools spring musical.  All of this is done on their own time, in the evenings and on weekends, plus trying to keep up with their studies.  It seems that March Madness is spreading!

In the spring, for many students the thoughts of a restful summer vacation increasingly start to dominate their daydreams.  However, summer should be a time for students to continue to expand and improve themselves. In the summer students involved in extra curricular activities such as sports and music should take advantage of programs offered at the college level.  These programs allow the student the opportunity to experience college life, interact with other students who share their interests and to improve their skills. In some instances, by attending a summer college camp, the student begins to develop a resume for colleges to look at when the time comes for the college admissions process.  Students who are juniors should take the time this spring and to visit colleges they might be interested in applying to in the fall.  Juniors who have a desire to continue participating in an extra curricular activity and have a specific college in mind should attend that college’s summer camp so that they have to opportunity to interact with the college coach/director that they will be spending the next 4 years playing for. In short summer is not only a time to recharge the battery but it is also a time to continue building on what you learned during the winter and to separate yourself from the others.

Today Duquesne University announced that it was dropping 4 varsity mens athletic sports.  Duquesne cited financial reasons for this move.  What was not mentioned in the article was the real reason the University and others like Duquesne are more and more dropping non-revenue (minor) mens sports.  The University has to continually increase the men’s basketball and football budgets so that it can
stay in the limelight.  Women’s sports are untouchable because of the threat of lawsuits via Title IX.  Thus the move to cut the non-revenue men’s sports.  If this trend continues within a short period of time a male won’t be able to participate in sports on a Division One level unless they are over 6 feet tall and weigh over 200 pounds.  How soon will the other non revenue activities on campus, such as band, art, etc. be dropped because of the need for bigger athletic budgets? So much for a Universities civic mission to represent all the students.

Today’s competition for slots in all levels of high education has gotten tougher.  With the use of the universal application and the addition of workers who are either laid off or looking to update their skills, competition for higher education slots has migrated to all levels of education.  Schools that once had open enrollments are now capping their number of incoming freshmen and some schools are even cutting the number of students on campus.  Even community colleges in some areas are looking to cap their numbers.  This makes it
imperative that students take advantage of every tool to make themselves
attractive to colleges.

 It doesn't seem fair that after 11 years of hard work in elementary, middle and high school that one test on one day can have a major impact on not only the type of college you can expect but also the amount of financial aid that colleges will offer. It puts a lot of stress on high school juniors and seniors; however, there are steps that they can take to take some of the anxiety out of the situation. The key is to plan and be prepared. The first step is to know what is expected of you on the test. A good way is to take the PSAT and the SAT in your sophomore year. The PSAT can qualify you for scholarships through the National Merit Foundation and they can give you a good indication of how you would fare on the SAT. There are a host of practice tests in local bookstores and online at collegebord.com. 

Look into taking a SAT preparation course. The course will teach them test taking strategies and what type of questions to expect. The SAT is a test set up to measure reasoning ability not what has been memorized over the last 11 years. While there has been a writing section added to the test recently, the good news is that many colleges don't consider this score the bad news is that many competitive colleges use this score. 

Plan to relax the night before the test, this doesn't mean parties or going to work. You need enough sleep to feel rested and have time for a good breakfast. Four hours is a long time and you will be using up a lot of brain power.

Make sure that you have all the necessary supplies. Bring at least two number 2 pencils, a good eraser, a calculator with fresh batteries, a bottle of water and some snacks. As I said 4 hours is a long time.  Put these in the car the night before to avoid forgetting them in the morning rush.

Wear a watch so that you can time yourself in each section. Sometimes the proctor doesn't write the time on the board.  Allow extra time for any unusual circumstances. If the test is at your high school don't depend on your daily commute time. You never know when there will be a traffic accident or a rush hour snarl. In most cases you will be traveling later in the morning. Allow yourself to be at least 15 to 20
minutes early.

Finally, relax the time will fly by and you will be done before you know it. If you do your best that is all that anyone (including Harvard) can ask.

Posted on: December 22, 2009
I recently had the opportunity to talk with some local high school music students about ways to increase their visibililty with colleges.  Students need to realize that there is alot of financial aid available from colleges but that colleges don’t always have the means to find the students that fit the requirements for that financial aid.  It is up to the students to make their information available to as many colleges as possible and to take an active role in contacting colleges that fit their requirements.

Posted on: December 14, 2009
One of the best kept secrets in the field of fine arts is the amount of scholarship aid available to students who wish to pursue their love of the arts at a school of higher learning.  Many colleges and universities that don’t offer a major in music have scholarships available to students who wish to enroll and continue their love of the arts.  I firmly believe that there is almost as much scholarship money available in the field of fine arts as there is in athletics.  The reason that we don’t hear about these scholarship opportunities is because the colleges don’t have a recruiting budget to aggressively pursue high school students who fit their needs.  Many of the scholarships were bequeathed to the colleges as endowments that stipulated that all of the money had to be used for scholarships.  This left little or no money to pay for recruiting expenses.  Thus, many colleges simply wait until the students arrive on campus and then award the scholarships.