News Worth Sharing — Published in IECA Insights

IECA is 40! Forty years of dedication to helping students and families navigate educational paths. Ethically, soundly, and professionally. SNAP. I am grateful and honored to be a part of such a swell group of folks.  In this issue of INSIGHTS you'll find an article I recently wrote on our culture of extremes — and how educational consultants work tirelessly to help students find a way to move forward. Because that is what doing this work is all about.

At the IECA Spring Conference in Boston, Dr. Ellen Braaten opened her keynote speech, The Curse of the Average Child, with a slide like this: Wal-Mart or Harvard. That slide stuck in my mind. All other high schoolers should just go home, settle in with their iPads, hide under the custom-made T-shirt quilt from Aunt Donna, and binge watch Game of Thrones. If those are the only options, then it’s winner take all—because stocking shelves doesn’t play well on Instagram. My yoga instructor noted something similar a decade ago, telling me: “We are a nation of extremes; moderation is no longer respected. Sodas are bigger. SUVs are bigger. And some family named Kardashian is on TV. How long will people want to watch that?” Well, extremism lives: Kim Kardashian has more than 50 million followers on Instagram; of more than 42,000 applicants to Stanford for the class of 2020, 4.69{475f6e8ad7be3161114314a988b7e8f491719bdeedead1da50322e1eadee8259} were accepted (just over 2,000 students); and dare I mention the presidential campaign?

Full article can be found on pp 27-28 here.