Your teenage son levels an angry glare at you -- it’s the angriest look you’ve ever seen on his face. His jaw is clamped tight, and the muscles on the sides of his face flutter with rage. “I don’t care what you say,” he hisses through his teeth. “You can’t make me do anything.” His arms are rigid at his sides, his hands balled into tight, white-knuckled fists. He might break something. He might put a fist through a wall. Maybe his eyes are rimmed with red and it makes you sick to think of why. ... View the Post
That Terrifying Moment When You Don’t Recognize Your Teen
How to Plan a College Visit: 16 Great Tips From a Former Dean
When my daughter started her college search, I joked that there were three parts to the college admissions process: the visiting, the applying, and the leaving. We found the first part, the visiting, mostly exciting and fun. Applying was busy and sometimes stressful. Part three, the leaving, well...it has been forty-two days since college drop off, but who's counting? I worked in higher education for over 20 years. In my various roles, I spoke at countless recruitment events, read hundreds of ... View the Post
Four Things That Can Help Your Teen Survive a Bad College Roommate
After the emotional blur of freshman year, we felt confident as we prepared for my daughter Emily’s sophomore year drop-off. We never anticipated that as a seasoned sophomore, she would experience roommate issues. That drama was for freshmen, right? And, given that my daughter (an only child) had survived freshman year in a forced triple, where they barely had room for three beds, how could the living situation NOT get better? On the surface, the living situation appeared ideal. Emily’s new ... View the Post
Your College Student’s First Thanksgiving Home May Be Your Best Ever
My first born was one of those kids who wanted to go far, far away for college. She didn’t come home very often during her four years of school on the opposite side of the country. And once she left, I quickly became one of "those moms" who would listen with envy as friends who had kids at schools much closer to home would talk about surprise visits back for the weekend or how’d they’d just hop in the car to drive an hour to meet their child for lunch or dinner on a whim. When my daughter ... View the Post
Four General Guidelines for Parenting a Grownup
When my husband and I dropped our daughter off for her first semester of college two years ago, I knew that our relationship was about to change. It had to. Over the years, I have discarded many of my beliefs around parenting, adapting them to the harsh light of reality, but one has remained constant: Parents have to allow their children to grow up. Too often, parents remain too involved in the lives of their children, blocking their independence. I was determined to be different. Like most ... View the Post
I Got a D in Marketing and Became an Award-Winning Marketing Executive
It was 1990, I was attending University of Kansas (my 2nd stop in my college career after Emerson College) and I was taking a course in my very favorite subject, marketing. My teacher was excellent, the other students were engaging and inspiring and I looked forward to each and every class. The teacher loved my ideas and thoughts on various marketing problems he asked us to solve. He thought I had tremendous talent but at the end of the day I received a D because of my low test scores. I ... View the Post