<p>I think the keyword to the above is support. Love and involvement can be good- but everything in moderation. Love is great, but sometimes some parents may be considered overbearing or otherwise a little bit intrusive. I think something good aside from being involved is to take a step back and let the child make some decisions for bad or good but to protect them not when they’re falling, but somewhere between the fall and the bottom of things.</p>
<p>As per the article, I was miffed and a bit irritated. There are a lot of outstanding kids and some who are mediocre and some who could do with more attention and others who were simply not suited for a full bachelor’s who may have been fine with an associate degree.</p>
<p>I will say that the feeling of perpetual alienation drove me to succeed. Sure, when I was about 8 I decided that I’d aim for MIT and be a programmer just like Dad (I was sooo Daddy’s super nerdy little girl) and I got as far as submitting an application to MIT and all that jazz (my goals of course changed along the way) </p>
<p>I really think that kids from my school that did well wanted to not for a school but for themselves by pursuing what made them happy. I’m not talking about the cum laude kids who went to Tier 1 schools or other very prestigious institutions, but I speak for everyone else who got accepted to a school that they loved. I think people have it wrong when they measure success with dollar figures. You could be rich like the celebrities and end up in detox for drug addiction while someone like my Great Aunt lives very modestly and is 105 and has all of her biological facilities (she’s still sharp as a tack too!) and she’s happy as a clam.</p>
<p>I also don’t like when the article mentions that it’s such a big deal that the girl is taking 3APs total or something. APs don’t measure the student. GPA first for most colleges, then SAT, but then there’s extra curric and even then, colleges can’t always determine spirit or determination. The average APs taken per kid at my school is 3 with an average AP score of probably a 3.5 for all APs taken with a 98% passing rate. That was never our selling point when I was a freshman-sophomore. We valued that we had “everything” like we had the basic academics, pretty good sports teams, an excellent art program which is still expanding mostly in photo and video, we have a lot of student run services for other students such as tutoring and peer guidance and a lot of other things not available to most schools. Of course lately it’s been all about the numbers and percentiles… which to me is disappointing.</p>
<p>In all honesty though, I did everything in secret of my parents and most of my peers due to a lack of support from others. Perhaps that is why I am skewed more in favor of introspective improvement. At least I did what I loved and at the end of the day I can give myself a pat on the back before bed.</p>