And, in the middle of this AFGO and AHA moment I answer the door to find my neighbor asking for a tea date so she can talk about her product. I have been running from that because she makes me feel uncomfortable, and I am not clear about her understanding of and commitment to boundaries. But, I feel like a heel because she is probably looking for the same thing I am.
Okay, so I know I am a complicated human being who is still developing. But, maybe I'm getting warmer.
Which brought me back to the GAME. Designing the game is an exercise in completing a process, and I'm hoping this specific round will yield a product or process I can use as I move from being a home-schooling person to an entrepreneur. But, I have to ask myself DO TEENAGERS WANT TO ASK THESE QUESTIONS AND TRY OUT ASPECTS OF COLLEGE BEFORE THEY GET THERE? Did I? Hhhmmmm..... It was very invigorating or perhaps just plain scary to meet new people, learn to live with a roommate, set my own limits and walk into academic experiences that I had never had before. What a complicated, wonderful and terrifying journey it was, and probably still is if a teenager really gets into the process.
My 13 year-old daughter saved an article entitled How to Choose a College (Frank Bruno, NY Times, 1/6/2013) for me when I was in Florida trying to help my mother after my father's death. First, the experience was difficult but also a catalyst for just doing what I really feel is important. Second, it was really affirming that she got what I am doing with this process. My husband and I are blessed with three amazing children.
"If you're among the lucky who can factor more than cost and proximity into where you decide to go, college is a ticket to an adventure beyond the parameters of what you've experienced so far. It's a passport to the far side of what you already know. It's a chance to be challenged, not coddled. To be provoked, not pacified......College can shrink your universe, or college can expand it. I vote for the latter."
So, I go back to the current parts of this game I am ruminating on. I love mountains but I am not a mountain climber right now. I would not go to a mountain and try to climb it unless I was prepared. But, with preparation maybe that would be an option. Kids should choose a college and program that is going to help them expand and really think, really put to the test what they think they want to do. But, that doesn't mean they shouldn't think about the type of teacher they learn best from or acknowledge their own limitations regarding being a roommate or a student. If someone needs five alarms to finally wake up in the morning she probably shouldn't have a class that begins at 8am on the other side of campus -- at least not starting out. If a student is used to always being at the top of the class then trying a subject that he has no experience in will be a trip outside of the comfort zone.
I firmly believe that expansion happens really well when it grows from a base of acknowledgment and affirmation, and when the person goes into their personal AFGO with a suitcase of experience tools that can be altered to use in the expansion.
So, here is "Build a Professor". It's kind of like "Build a Bear".
The professor on the left is a teacher you have NOW and learn well from.
The professor on the right you WOULD LIKE to take a class from.
First, who is your favorite teacher now, why? Second, who is your most effectve teacher now, why?
Now, dress them up (long/short hair, loud/soft voice, neat/not-so-neat dresser, glasses?)
And then, add on the sides the style of speaking, what they know, attitude, professional experience, personal experience.
Tell me what happened! Hit the comments' section, even if you already went to college and have no students heading that way.
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