You’ll probably “enjoy” this article, written by the Stanford student journalist who took down their president.
“This is a childhood that may seem familiar to a lot of Stanford students. Many kids who come here have spent their whole lives believing that they are the next tech Jesus — they have what it takes to beat the odds and sit on top of the world. The emotional stuntedness of that sort of childhood reverberates around the Valley, where self-interest and egoism run amok.”
I regret mentioning senior projects. Didn’t mean for it to be such a minefield.
My kids attend a BASIS charter school, which has a lot of locations in AZ, along with some in TX, a couple in LA, 1 in Washington, DC, and a couple of private (“independent”) schools in Brooklyn, the SF Bay Area. BASIS gives seniors the option to do a senior project during Feb-early May of senior year. It’s not required. Student must work with an outside organization, non-profit, a business, etc. for at least 15 hr per week, plus meet in person once a week with their BASIS faculty advisor. In early May, they’re required to do a presentation on a Saturday at school to talk about ~15 min about what they learned.
I have no idea if other charter schools, public schools, or private schools in my state have this option.
For BASIS students who do NOT do a senior project, once trimester 2 ends this year on 2/9, you’re basically all done and you’d really only have to go to school for school club meetings or other school extracurricular-related stuff.
You shouldn’t. It’s an interesting topic. I’m enjoying reading people’s views.
I think its a good topic and interesting/differing opinions. Our school does have sr projects and they tend to be academic in nature but also a bit of fun.
I hear what you’re saying. And I think that for some kids, the act of “professionalizing” that sort of work is great prep for college/job/life. If, for example, my son wanted to go into physical therapy, or sports communications, or maybe any sort of communications, I would see this as an interesting avenue to explore.
He has picked a different, rather specific major. The jobs he could get upon graduation from that major would be really different based on which way he decides to lean within that major. So it seems to me, a good use of senior project for him is exploring what some of those things are. I don’t think there will ever be an easier time to get a job shadow than having the backing and structure of his high school senior project to do it. (and it is not my area – – so having the school help in this, would be appreciated.) I think having this experience will help confirm (or refute) if this is the right major and or right area of work to start thinking about. (And I hesitate to even mention this, but… after reading about all those competitive clubs at colleges, maybe he needs a little bit of experience in the area to get into the competitive clubs. Ugh!)
At our school, you cannot do senior project if you’re taking more than a couple AP classes, because senior project happens during the run up to and during AP exams. So the really high stats kids don’t do senior projects at our school. Overall I think fewer than than 20% of the seniors will do a senior project.
My argument to my kid is … if you are petitioning to get out of classes that 80% of your classmates are forced to attend, it should be something more than just pure fun. But then I’m the parent that makes the kid go to school all the time too. A mental health day here, and there, I am OK with. But he doesn’t get a four week mental health break at the end of the school year.
But again – – this is my kid. He gets 8+ hours of sleep at night and (now that his sport season ended) has ample time for friends and video games (and workouts and smoothies). He has been really unstressed with the college process (because he found a safety he loves in fall of junior year). If he was stressed out and overloaded, a cookbook might seem like a good choice! But I don’t think he needs less stress … he needs to figure out more about what he likes.
That sounds like a really good structure, working with an outside organization or business. I got the impression a lot of kids at our school were writing music in their bedroom or making a cookbook in their friend’s kitchen. It’s also possible that our school relaxed the rules a bit for those kids coming off the Covid high school years.
Our high school has senior project as well. Begins in April and ends third week in May. It is optional. Must be unpaid and student has to do the legwork to find the internship (can’t just go to work with mom for the month). Must go into school once a week to update teachers and also must be in school for any AP classes you are taking. At the end of the internship they do a presentation to the entire senior class. Not all students qualify- you may not qualify if you are below a certain GPA, have more than a certain threshold of absences, etc.
One of our daughter’s did a cooking project for her senior project. It was 2nd semester and did not go on a college application. I liked how our school did it, as kids could make the decision to learn about what they wanted to do without linking it with college application. Some kids did very career focused projects, others followed a passion and others slacked off. It is nongraded and takes place after finals and before senior year ends over 3 weeks.
For my daughter’s cooking project, she took a top selling baking cookbook of that year and made quite a few recipes. She did amazing food photography of the process and finished products. She also set up a visit with a food photographer and spent a morning at the studio, interviewed a local caterer, shadowed at a small specialty market (caviar) and spent a day with a company that films and put recipes instructions on YouTube. She loves to cook and loves to eat - but this is not a field she is pursuing in college - it is a passion - not a career for her at this time.
The one consistent message she received from each mentee was to go to and finish college 
Never mind
I guess it is a conversation that has been a welcomed distraction from the looming decisions scheduled later in the week.
As far as Class of 2024 projects - what’s done is done and apps are in.
We are roughly 28 hours out from DS’s ED release. I need all the distractions I can get. Today, I’m spending a lot of time on my rower and tomorrow walking with a friend doing what we call our Tuesday 10 (miles).
I think you don’t have to regret. The discussion is no way connected with what your D is doing. We all in this group know about you and your D by now at least from your posts. She is an amazing kid. Wish her good luck with her colleges.
I love your healthy distractions!
I have less healthy strategies for dealing with this week’s anxiety (S24 hears from 5, including two top choices, and D24 hears from ED). Currently I am overthinking and trying to work on back up plans and second guessing my kids’ lists. When I get home I may have a cocktail. One of my business partners gifted me a lovely bottle of Caymus. Probably too fine for a Monday 
This is me too…I have thought of several schools to add to D24’s RD list, have tentative plans to visit two colleges before Christmas (she doesnt even come home until Thurs), and am refreshing the admissions instagram page for her ED school 8billions times, hoping for a decision day/time to be posted. Oh and Im drowning myself in peppermint bark. Let this be over soon, please!!!
Caymus is a great vineyard with some great wines. Don’t worry when DH gets home the martinis will flow. I’ve also occupied myself with cooking. Just pulled a fresh sheet of focaccia out of the oven and am trying the recent pasta dish found in the NYTimes cooking section, Pasta Alla Brontese.
How is your daughter doing? Hope, she’s feeling better. Anyone else come down with COVID?
My salute to those finding healthy ways to combat the anxiety - exercising, cooking etc.
I’ve picked up playing online Spades in my free time. Found out I am REALLY good. Playing ~3 hours at night counts for something, right?
The longest three days ever!
3 hours/night?
How do you have time to refresh the college portal every 10 minutes?
Each game lasts about 5 mins so I get to refresh the portal every 6 minutes if I take a one min break in between.
Smart. Very smart.