College Planning: Building Student Futures

I want to get a little existential with you today and talk about the future. Y’know, the future: that thing that gives us all anxiety.

It’s why we read the news, so we know what might happen. It’s why we check the market, trying to decide if today is the day to cash out before the bubble bursts.

When you get a great job, suddenly you know the future. You’ll have money to buy food, pay your bills, and take vacations. When you buy a house, now you really know the future: you know where you’re going to live.

But when you’re expecting a baby, your mind fills with all the possible futures this person could someday have. That’s where the anxiety of parenthood begins: at least until they’re born and your brain shifts from future mode to survival mode. Support the head. Please go to sleep. You have to eat something other than hot dogs.

When your baby gets to high school, you realize they’re about to become an adult and you shift back into future mode. You start wondering: what does the future hold for your child? What college will they go to? What major will they pursue? What career will they have?

If you could just put them into a box (this one will study business, that one will become a doctor) you could know who your children are, what their future holds, and finally maybe get some sleep at night.

But I don’t think we become different people on January 1st because of a New Year’s resolution. And I don’t think students become different people when they get to college. If you have a hardworking student now, that student will work hard in college, no matter where they go. If you have a student who looks for and pursues opportunities, they’ll do the same in college. If they’re creative now, they’ll be creative in college.

So the point of figuring out the “best” college for your child isn’t about rankings or lists. It’s about finding the college that will give them the kind of education they’re looking for, teach them what they want to learn, and give them opportunities to explore who they are and who they want to become on their terms.

All we can really do for our kids right now is raise them to be independent, critical thinkers and help them find and pursue their passions. They’re going to be who they’re going to be.

And here’s the good news: we’re already living in the future. So we can stop worrying so much about it. Just make sure your kids know how to do laundry before they go away to college and they’re going to be fine.

If you’d like some help planning for your student’s future, please reach out to us at 732-556-8220 or Questions@SolutionPrep.com. We’re here to help!