Who's on Your College Success Team?

Parents are key members of teens' support team. School counselors and teachers are also important. College Consultants like myself wear many hats. These are some of the hats I've been wearing for the past 20 years as I have worked with teens and their families.

Teen Life Coach

Goal Setting. Encouragement. Accountability Partner. Mentor. Coach through Failures and Difficulties. Teach Interpersonal Skills. Encourage Development of Strong Character Traits & Virtues

Academic Coach

Study Skills. Time Management. Task Prioritization. Organization. Foster Healthy Habit Formation.

Leadership Mentor

Identify Opportunities. Teach and Foster Leadership Skills. Troubleshoot Problems. Celebrate Growth.

College Admissions Specialist

Guide Life & College Goal Determination Process. Clarify & Guide College Selection Process. College Essay Writing Coaching & Editing. Application Preparation Management

College Funding Specialist

Identify Opportunities to Lower Costs. Advise on Saving Strategies. Scholarship Strategist. Financial Aid Maximization Coaching

Parent Coach

Stress Management. Effective Communication Facilitator. Subject Matter Expert. Sanity Stabilizer. Prayer Partner.

Want to explore bringing me onto your teen's college success team? Email me, Katherine O'Brien, at KOB@CelticCollegeConsultants.com and request a college prep consultation for your family.

Katherine O'Brien is a Certified College Planning Specialist and the Founder of Celtic College Consultants, an independent education consultancy serving families across the US since 2004. Her Class of 2015 - Class of 2024 College Success Program Clients have averaged nearly $250,000 each in scholarship offers and have headed to campus with goals, skills, and confidence.

Eight Key Factors: Raising Teens to Adulthood

by Katherine O'Brien, MA CCPS

There are eight components of youth ministry.  These key areas have been identified by experts as essential for helping teens become successful adults. I adapted them to college prep (and parenting in general).

1. Advocacy. We adults (parents, coaches, teachers, ministers, college consultants, etc.) advocate for youth, that they be respected and their needs met. We also teach them how to advocate for themselves. Identifying situations wherein young people can step up and speak for themselves, ask for what they need, guide others, etc. are skills that we can teach teens. As a college consultant, I regularly do this, then help them identify the action steps, plan how to take those steps, and accompany them as they take those steps. I also hold them accountable for their actions, or lack thereof. 

2. Catechesis. In the Church, we teach young people what we believe and the ethical and moral implications of those beliefs. This is true in all areas of life, whether we (and/or our youth) are people of faith or not. Young people need to learn what is right (customary and lawful) and wrong. They need to learn what is expected of them as students, scholars, and citizens.

3. Community Life. Connecting teens with one another is essential. During the pandemic lockdowns, interpersonal connections (and the ability to form and maintain them) were fractured. The climate, full of indirect, electronic means of communication, has also hampered the development of interpersonal skills. This area is critically important to maturation and the development of rich lifelong relationships, personal and professional. Let's all do everything we can to mentor the young people we know and teach them how to have good interpersonal interactions, friendships, and collaborations. Opportunities to demonstrate and teach conflict resolution, foster group activities (from playing board and outdoor games to building and creating), and the like need to be identified, encouraged, and our youth supported. Whether they can articulate it or not, they are keenly aware of their weakness in these skill areas.

4. Evangelization. As a Christian, introducing others to Christ is central to my life. As a college consultant, encouraging young people to value education, set goals, believe in themselves are key endeavors. Instilling the joy and enthusiasm about things that makes a person want to tell everyone about it, this is an important task. Finding a field of study or endeavor that makes our heart sing is an example of this in the college prep part of life.

5. Justice and Service. Justice is moral rightness, it is the just treatment of all members of society. In this aspect, young people must be treated justly, being afforded opportunities to grow and contribute to the work of society and the welfare of their communities, at school, home, and in their churches and neighborhoods. Service is part of how we love one another. Service teaches the one who serves how to use one's strengths to help another. It can also afford a person the opportunity to develop new skills, be they skills like kindness patience or technical skills, etc. Service, then, positively impacts both the person who serves as well as the person who is served.

6. Leadership development. First one needs to learn how to lead oneself. Getting to bed at a reasonable time, awaken oneself and prepare for the day in a timely fashion, care for one's clothing, room, and belongings, these are leadership skills our teens need to start with. Once basic self-leadership is mastered, then leadership of others can happen. Some teens, of course, develop both sets of leadership skills simultaneously. Fostering opportunities to lead is an important part of working with teens. Helping them create visions, plan events, run meetings, resolve conflicts, troubleshoot problems, learn to communicate effectively, all of these are key endeavors to undertake with teens.

7. Pastoral Care. This is another area which is very much needed. Another name for it is accompaniment. People need to be cared for, to have people walk through life with them, to celebrate joyful moments and encourage them through the rough times. Everyone needs someone to listen to them from time to time. Even introverts benefit from companionship (even if it is silent). Let's take time to be present with our teens, in person whenever possible.

8. Prayer and Worship. We are not the creators of everything. We are not the be all and end all of the universe. Fundamentally, instilling a regular practice of gratitude is helpful. Fostering the sense of awe is also helpful. It can be easy to take things for granted. Taking time to notice the beauty of a sunset or flower or garment, etc. helps us retain a sense of awe. It's important that we retain our human sense of wonder; life is much richer when we notice the incredible gifts bestowed upon us, from our very lives, to ladybugs, to wondrous music, and beyond.

Summer: Time to Shine or Time to Recline?

 

Summertime and the living is easy! Or is it?

Those song lyrics reflect well the casual attitude most teens take to summer break. That's understandable. However, summer time is prime time for teens to shine, to prepare to take their game to the next level. Here are a few ideas:

1. Leading a club? Prepare to have the Best Year in Club History

Take time over the summer to create a vision for your group. How many members do you want to add to your group? What are some ways to attract new members? Brainstorm a few activities and events you can do to help students learn about your group, what you do, and how they can benefit from joining. Once new students join your group, what sorts of training, encouragement, and activities do you need to have in order to retain them? As you consider that, think about how you can develop new leaders, both to help you this year but also to take over once you graduate. What sorts of leadership skills do you need to develop? What resources are available at your school and in your community to develop those skills? Leverage businesses in your area for internships, to invite guest speakers, and host off campus events to deepen your members' knowledge base and to add a bit of pizzazz. 

2. Prepare to start a Club 

What are you interested in doing or knowing more about? If there isn't a club or group at your school or in your community that is doing that, start one. Starting a group takes planning, persistence, courage, and perseverance. Research similar groups and borrow ideas from them. Create a timeline. See what is involved to start a group. Schools typically have protocols and procedures which must be followed. You will need to recruit adults, find a meeting place, create a vision or mission statement, and schedule events. Your vision should include your group's purpose, how many students you hope to attract the first year, the officers/roles of responsibility you will have and the tasks each will perform for the group, your budget and fund raising plan, as well as activities and events for the first year. Your school's academic calendar will show when the terms end and what days school will be in session and which days will be holidays. If you homeschool, putting together a school calendar can help the family's school year run more smoothly. 

3. Prepare to Ace your Classes

In AP classes, as in college, students are expected to read the chapter(s) and assignments before the lectures. This rhythm, when followed, enables students to learn the material more deeply. Students arrive to class with some understanding of the material, perhaps even with questions about confusing information or ideas about how this material correlates with information learned previously. Students are then prepared to deeply receive the lecture, engage in interesting and meaningful discussion of the material, and ask pertinent questions, having identified material they found confusing. Take time over the summer to use  online and library materials to prepare for your most challenging classes. Even if the best you can gain is an overview understanding, you will be prepared to master the material more effectively and efficiently during the school year. In order to be successful, create a schedule for yourself. Otherwise, you are unlikely to get very far with the good intention of reading and learning ahead of the first day of school.

by Katherine O'Brien, MA CCPS, Founder Celtic College Consultants

For information about our holistic college preparation services or to schedule an initial family consultation with Katherine, please visit our website: CelticCollegeConsultants.com

Being Successful Includes Finishing Strong

 

by Katherine O'Brien, MA CCPS, Founder Celtic College Consultants

Follow Through

Among other things, it's a key element of one's golf swing and bowling technique, not to mention personal relationships, academic work, business projects, parenting, and more!

Follow through means doing ALL of the parts of a task well, even those "little bits" at the end of the task for project. These seemingly trivial tasks often mean the difference between good, better, and BEST.

How does a person learn to follow through?

First, one must become aware of these tasks, so often overlooked and ignored. At the end of a long effort, it is all too easy to get the main portion of it finished, look a the unfinished tasks, and, in fatigue, decide they aren't important enough to do. Once in a while we are right and nothing notable happens when we skip them. Many times, however, we only learn to notice these tasks after repeated failures. The consequences of skipping them might be lost time, money, or damage to our reputation. Unfortunately, many of us will suffer these consequences several, even many, times before we start to realize that our lack of follow through has not served us well.

Do you want your teen to fail over and over again because of a lack of follow through?

I don't, and I suspect you don't either. That's why I hold my clients accountable. Each of them schedules his or her own meetings, and deals with the consequences of missed meetings, last minute rescheduling, not being prepared for our planned discussion, and other mishaps. One of my many assets in your teen's life is that I am not the parent. I am an outside, trusted professional. I can, and do, say things to teens that parents can't say, or say a "million times" but are not heard. My best client families communicate with me well, which enables me to convey the parents' sentiments to their child, who either hears the message for the "first" time or, because I am also saying it, finally receives the message they have heard from their parents. 

There are countless more ways I hold teens accountable and teach them to follow through, complete their tasks well, fulfill their responsibilities, and begin to reap the rewards of a job well done rather than sort out the mess that happens when they fail to follow through and finish well.

I look forward to speaking with your teen when he or she is in 8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th grade. Summers are KEY times to do college prep work; don't lose out on those many rich opportunities!

Introduce Yourself!

Time to build a resume!  A Personal Achievements Resume is a written showcase of YOU - everything that is not on your transcript goes on here.  Leadership, community service, travels, summer camps, businesses you have created, jobs you have held, ministries you have led.  The works!

So, get out your computer, fire up Word, and start typing.  Start with the summer after 8th grade and continue on.  Have your mom check it - have dad take a look - make sure nothing got left out.  Include enough description so that someone who has never heard of the programs you list will know what they are, how significant your contribution was, how much time per day/week/year you spent on it, and when you were involved in it.  At the information gathering stage, just organise by category (work, community service, clubs, leadership, sports, etc.) or by time period (summer of 2010, 2010/11 school year, etc.)

Once that is done, refine it into a presentable format.  Actually have TWO copies of this on your computer - the list, complete with the descriptions of every item, and the formal presentation version.  Make this look very elegant, refined, businesslike.  Include enough information about each item for clarity, but that is all.  Organise this by category, not epoch.  Leadership, Community Service, Entrepreneurial Ventures, Employment, Sport, etc.

Once you are done creating your presentation version, be sure to use the Spell Checker. TYPOS are TABOO!

Update this at the end of each summer, over Christmas break, and at the end of the school year, before you launch into your summer endeavors.