I received hundreds of love letters from my husband during our long-distance romance in the eighties (pre-email).  But my favorite love letter these days is the virtual email hug I get from sixteen year olds who read my book, The New Global Student, and write to thank me for their adventure abroad.

I’m so lucky to get these wonderful messages every week.  I wanted to share the one I got this morning from Savannah.

Hello!
I’m 16 years old and about a year an a half ago, my mother heard a show on NPR about your book, The New Global Student.  She told me about the show and that I might be interested in it and I listened to it online. The part about going on an exchange in high school fascinated and inspired me, so much so that I am writing this email from my host family’s house in [EUROPEAN COUNTRY] !!!
I left [MY STATE IN THE U.S.] for my year-long exchange in [EUROPE] a month ago and I still can’t believe that I am actually here.  I am with Rotary International, and it is one of the best decisions I have ever made.  I just wanted to thank you for (1) Doing an interview with NPR, and (2) writing that wonderful book!  I’ve probably read it about 3 times since I bought in in May 2009 and each time it helped me realize how I want to live my life a little bit more.  After my exchange year I’m thinking about doing a year at a community college in my area instead of doing my senior year, but who knows for sure?!!  This time two years ago if you had told me that I would be spending a year in Europe at 16 I would have told you that you were crazy!

My exchange is wonderful, I am already learning so much [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] and I am beginning to make good friends, both exchange students and [FOREIGN RESIDENTS]!  And the hard times that I have had have just made me grow.  I feel different already and I’ve only been here for one month.

Thank you so much for inspiring me and so many other kids!
I hope you are doing well and having fun with whatever you are up to!!

Savannah

Isn’t it sweet?  Thank you, Savannah, and my heartfelt thanks to the many other students who write to me every week to tell me about how the book has inspired them to try something new, experience a new culture, and learn more about themselves and the world.

I love you, too.

I often receive questions from parents regarding how to save for college, but lately, I’ve been getting emails from financial advisors. They are looking for tips to pass along to their clients who are overwhelmed by the cost of educating their kids. What’s the best way for families to save for college now?

My response is that it may be a lot smarter to save on college than to save for college. With tuition and other costs rising, portfolios shrinking and home values stagnating, a savings plan is helpful but certainly no guarantee of affordability. Families are beginning to look at the true value of education rather than simply scrimping and paying for what they’re told is best for their kids.

Times are changing—and our strategies for educating our children (and paying for that education) must change, as well.

The traditional four-by-four model (4 years of high school followed by 4 years of college) is outdated. That’s good news for both students who are rolling their eyes at the idea of spending five or six years in college and parents who are having heart palpitations thinking about paying for it.

The key to the Bold School approach—and the best way to reduce college costs—is to look for ways to blend and balance learning opportunities beginning in high school. Through dual enrollment programs, IB diplomas or AP tests, many students are earning college credit while in high school. Others are picking a more personalized path, getting a GED at 15 or 16 in order to enroll in college early or getting an associate’s degree by the time they receive their high school diploma. Some are taking college courses, either online or in person, during their summers in high school and transferring to a four-year university at 18 as a junior. And it’s not just a matter of racing ahead to finish early—these students are using their time for meaningful experiences, such as spending a significant period of time abroad before the age of 18 (as exchange students or through extensive study/volunteer opportunities) in order to hardwire their brains for flexibility and language learning and develop a greater understanding of themselves and the world around them.

What they have in common is a clearer idea of their interests because they have been exposed to more options early on and have built momentum in their learning.

One of the easiest ways to ensure that your son or daughter gets the most value out of their time in college is to compress it rather than extend it. The average college student now takes more than five years to graduate and students no longer expect to graduate within four years. As some college students have been known to say, graduating after four years is “like leaving the party at 10:30 p.m.” But that’s a very expensive party and families need to understand that they do have options for reducing the length and cost of college while still giving students that full “college experience.”

Colleges contribute to the added length by not counseling students on how they can finish earlier and by making courses critical for graduation scarce, necessitating an extra semester or two to finish up. In addition, many counselors, worried that students won’t be able to juggle their social life and their classes successfully, advise students to take a minimal load of courses each semester. This may be helpful for some students, but for many, it establishes a pattern early on of spending more time on recreation than on studying, and reduces their expectations regarding the course load they can handle. The truth is that most students find that they budget their time, get more accomplished, and get better grades when they have a full load rather than a lighter schedule.

Here’s what we can do to save money on college, help our kids develop a clear idea of their interests and enable them to graduate early while having transformational experiences along the way:

1) Shift from achievements to interests. The focus during the high school years should be on developing interests and enthusiasm for learning rather than gaining a particular set of academic achievements. This is crucial. By the age of 16, students need to know how to find, understand and synthesis content. They must be able to develop ideas of their own and research the heck out of them. Students who spend years languishing in high school when they could be blasting forward are wasting the most critical period of their adolescent brain development. Kids should be on fire during these years, and as parents, it’s our job to help them come alive rather than simply plod along on a prescribed path. A 17-year-old who can’t wait to learn more about his favorite subjects is going to be more successful in college and life in general than the 17-year-old who does what he is told in order to pass the test. Make this shift in your focus, and your student will be one of those who dives into higher education with great enthusiasm—and graduates early.

2) Break free of four-by-four thinking. The key is to look for ways to blend high school and college, getting credit along the way for a variety of learning opportunities and experiences that help our kids figure out what they’re good at, what interests them, and how they want to spend their time. Students have a tremendous amount of freedom regarding how, where and what they study during the high school years and beyond. But too often, we simply enroll them in a decent school and tell them to just take tough courses and graduate with good grades. We need to question why we think the education we received twenty or more years ago is enough for our kids today, and stop assuming that any given school will have it covered. Remember how motivated you were to expose your son or daughter to a range of rich experiences when they were five years old? What would happen if we took that same approach with our fifteen-year-olds instead of assuming that AP classes, sports practice and a part-time job could maximize their potential?

3) Release the idea that getting into a top school is a prerequisite for success. There are new cracks in those ivy-covered walls. The recession has shown that even those with the most sought-after degrees are not guaranteed a job upon graduation. Those who are resourceful enough to have designed their own best education in a variety of settings will be in a far better position to find work they love than those who are relying on the name on that college diploma or their connections to get their foot in the door. Young adults who are not hampered by enormous student debt are free to take jobs that truly appeal to them rather than whatever pays the bills, and this leads to greater enthusiasm for work, more willingness to explore options and more excitement about their possibilities. We need our kids to want to work diligently because they love what they do—that’s the winning combination that will lead to personal fulfillment and success.

4) Recognize that those who graduate early because they know what they love to do are also saving thousands of dollars. They are not spending five or six years going to the same university—thanks to blending high school, college and study abroad, they may spend less than two years as full-time college students at their final degree-granting institution. By 19 or 20, they’ve got hip-deep experience, a college degree without debt, and tremendous enthusiasm about the next stage of their lives. And when someone suggests that they might have “missed out” on that extra time in high school and college, they simply laugh—they know they’ve packed far more excitement and learning into their personalized education than their peers on the just-tell-me-when-I’m-done track.

I know that families are struggling to pay for college. I don’t have all the answers, and I think parents should run from anyone who claims they do. But the fact remains that simply saving for college is no longer a proactive approach. Selecting a smart blend of education options is more strategic and far more likely to give students the kind of education that is both personally enriching and professionally beneficial without breaking the bank.

Bottom line: be flexible and aware in order to see and seize the best opportunities available—and keep the focus on real value and sustainable growth. That holds true for both finances and education.

Blake Boles has written a remarkable how-to handbook that is destined to change the lives of young people across North America. In College Without High School: A Teenager’s Guide to Skipping High School and Going to College, he offers a step-by-step plan to help students envision their best educational experience and make the most of the time they would have spent in high school.

We didn’t have Blake’s book when our youngest daughter was figuring out how to do high school differently. As a freshman, she spent a year as the only foreigner at her high school in Mexico, and then started taking Spanish classes at a local university in Buenos Aires alongside college students from the U.S. After a great semester of college courses, enrolling in high school seemed like a huge step backward, so she took advantage of some wonderful opportunities to work with tutors and mentors and then spent a summer in Oregon taking a full load of college courses while preparing for her GED tests. That fall, at 16, she enrolled as a freshman at an American college in Buenos Aires, and the following year, she got a nice scholarship/grant package when she transferred as a junior to a private college in upstate New York at the age of 17. She spent the summer doing an independent research project in Argentina and is excited to complete her BS this December just two weeks after she turns 19.

But that’s just her story. Her three older sisters also pursued alternative routes, and there are many, many ways to prepare for and get into college without attending high school. Blake’s book is full of tips and stories to help students plot their own best path.

I had the chance to interview Blake between his sessions leading the Not Back to School camp for teens. He shared some thoughts about the book.

You had an epiphany in college while majoring in astrophysics. Tell us about that—and where it led you.

Since early in high school, I had a passion for physics. Getting high grades in my math & science classes and watching the movie “Contact” also nudged me in that direction. So, I entered UC Berkeley under the astrophysics major and studied it diligently for two years. It was in my third year that cracks started forming in the edifice. In quantum physics I started to see that astrophysics was really just hardcore math, and I began to question my motivations for becoming a professional astronomer. Luckily, that same semester a friend from a 1-unit elective class handed me a book by famed public-school-teacher-turned-homeschool-advocate John Taylor Gatto.

Like a chainsaw, Gatto quickly cut through every assumption I held about the necessity and benefits of regular public schooling. I consumed his book in three days and immediately did a Google search for related authors, which led me to Grace Llewellyn, The Sudbury Valley School, Summerhill, and John Holt. Within two weeks I saw that my passion for astrophysics, genuine but faltering, was no match for the immense intellectual curiosity I held for alternative education. I scoured Berkeley for a design-your-own-major option, argued and pleaded, and eventually got my way. For the next two years I studied alternative education exclusively, following a plan of my design. My curriculum included volunteering at a local “free school”, reading Gatto’s gigantic Underground History of American Education, taking numerous upper division education courses, and designing and leading my own elective course for undergrads (entitled “Never Taught to Learn”). The intellectual and emotional high that I derived from self-directing my college studies was the major epiphany of my young adulthood, and it set the foundation for later writing College Without High School.

What advice can you give to students who have parents who remain unconvinced of this alternative path to a college degree?

Parents should be rightly skeptical of anyone peddling college admissions snake oil–there’s a lot out there. My ultimate response to skepticism is: Look at the evidence. Look at MIT or Stanford’s online admissions guidelines for homeschoolers. They don’t want high school diplomas. They don’t want some perfect equivalent of 4 years of high school classes. They want teens who have taken personal initiative and designed meaningful, independence-building activities for themselves. They want teens who have boldly explored the realms of business, international travel, and college-level research prior to convincing themselves that they actually need college. Traditional high school is very often a handicap in pursuing these character traits. And while not every college has explicit homeschool admissions policies like MIT and Stanford, the logic remains the same: colleges want dynamic, innovative teens who leave the cookie-cutter approach behind for greener pastures.

Skeptical parents often compare their child’s college preparatory journey to their same journey of yesteryear. It’s important to realize that high school diplomas don’t hold nearly the same cachet today as they did a few decades ago. Community colleges are much easier to get into as a teen, and dual- or early-enrollment programs abound. The biggest bureaucratic hurdles exist in public college admissions, but an easily obtained GED can soothe those ruffled feathers. These facts are the kind of evidence that parents should seek out to decide whether their fears are founded or unfounded.

What tips do you offer to students who have been in public or private schools through the 8th or 9th grade and are now considering preparing for college without high school?

My book is actually written for just those teens: the ones who have attempted to diligently follow school’s path but have only met disillusionment and boredom in the process. (Middle school is usually when this sets in.) A majority of the teens interviewed in my book made their unschooling decision in 9th grade.

What’s most important for a teen making the transition away from traditional school is to identify, as specifically as possible, their personal dreams and goals. Read the books that have always caught your eye in the bookstore. Take the train to visit your friend three states away. Build a computer in your garage or spend six hours a day writing music. Unschooling should be a “moving toward” something, not “moving away”. Once these values are clear, they should start pursuing them ruthlessly–and then figure out how college prep can be mixed into the brew. Following this order (interests first, college prep second) is vital for maintaining enthusiasm and self-motivation as an unschooler.
If a teen doesn’t know what truly excites them (as often happens with first-time school refugees), a short “deschooling vacation” might be in order. This is a period of time during which no structured academics are required, no schedule is followed, and parental nudging is kept to a minimum. The point is for the teen to push through the “no one is going to tell me what to do” barrier and enter “I have to motivate myself” land.

Though you encourage students to get creative about designing a personalized college-prep education, you suggest they prepare for and take standardized tests like the SAT or AP tests. Why not continue their alternative approach by finding other options for admission?

The SAT is certainly not required for all college admissions as a homeschooler., but the vast majority of traditional schools require at least one traditional academic achievement indicator (SAT, ACT, GED) and often more (SAT Subject, AP). The good news is that these tests have always existed independently of high school, and for that reason, it’s easy to prepare for them as a homeschooler. Grab a few SAT study guides, figure out exactly where your weak spots are, review hard in those areas, and take the test when you see fit. It’s a self-directed and results-oriented approach to college prep.

In view of the financial challenges facing many families, what’s your advice for those who need to reduce their college costs?

Community college is a golden bullet for financial hurdles. Many of the college-bound unschoolers with whom I work start community college around age 16, gather a significant number of transferable credits (or an Associate’s degree) by 18 or 19, and have lots of cool adventures along the way. Then they’re ready to apply (or transfer) into a 4-year school with sophomore or junior standing, saving thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

What options do you recommend for those interested in increasing their knowledge of the world and themselves?

As you argue excellently in The New Global Student, international immersion provides teens with an incredible wealth of self-knowledge. But many teens don’t want to participate in a packaged tourist program that carefully clings to the beaten path, and many parents won’t let their teens leave the beaten path alone. The solution lies somewhere in the middle–in finding a program that provides some modicum of safety and structure while providing teens with ample time to explore a new culture and learn from the common travel mistakes that they’ll inevitably make.

To find such opportunities, I recommend that teens first explore Idealist.org and search for volunteer positions specific to their age and desired location (using the “advanced search” feature). Often these programs provide a host family, English-speaking support network, and both structured and unstructured time. Another option (for those who don’t mind getting their hands dirty) is WWOOF: World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. In exchange for a small number of hours of farm work each day, students get to enjoy total immersion in the rural life of a foreign country. Both volunteering and “WWOOFing” offer the coveted combination of low cost and high immersion that a globetrotting teen seeks. There are also, of course, my own Unschool Adventures (http://www.unschooladventures.com) and Homeschool Leadership Retreats (http://www.homeschoolleadershipretreats.com) that strive to offer a similar experience.
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I highly recommend Blake’s book to any middle school or high school student seeking more excitement and engagement in their educational journey. Smart parents should buy this book for their kids and be bold enough to encourage them to forge ahead in new ways. To learn more, visit http://www.CollegeWithoutHighSchool.com

President Obama shared some advice with America’s schoolchildren (or some of them, anyway) and I’m happy that he encouraged students to work hard and stay in school. He had some sound long-term suggestions.

But as any parent knows, kids don’t think about the long term. They think about lunchtime or recess or tomorrow’s quiz, but most elementary school students do not ponder the possibility of quitting school. They assume that things will work out and they’ll stay on track until the day they graduate from high school.

It’s great to plant those powerful seeds of responsibility and commitment in the minds of our kids, but what they need most is the daily nurturing of habits that will contribute to their success. And while schools can certainly do their part to promote good habits and kids can step up their efforts, parents are the ones who are teaching (or not) their kids to become outstanding citizens who value education.

So, I’d like to offer the following list of ten wishes that would make a big difference both today and in ten years in the lives of our students. You’ll notice that every wish is aimed squarely at parents, those most experienced long-term thinkers. After all, they’ve been dreaming of the future they hope their children will have since before their sons and daughters were born.

1) I wish that parents of preschoolers would cancel one of those weekly must-do activities (swimming, gymnastics, soccer) and take their kids to the local library instead. (Instilling a love for reading and discovery is the key to creating lifelong learners.)

2) I wish that parents would impose bed times for their school-age children. (A lack of sleep has a profound effect on young students’ learning ability and brain development.)

3) I wish that parents would make dinner time an inviolable period during which the family sits down together for relaxed conversation. (Regular family dinners are one of the most powerful indicators of future student success.)

4) I wish that parents would model healthy eating and exercise for their children and include active recreation into their family’s regular schedule. (Obese students are far more likely than their normal-weight classmates to drop out of school.)

5) I wish that parents would spend less time driving their kids to sports practices and more time taking them to art classes, music lessons and cultural experiences. (Students who study music do better academically, and those who are exposed to other cultures have a greater appreciation for those of different backgrounds.)

6) I wish that parents of middle-school students would encourage their kids to find and develop their own strengths rather than sign up for the activities their friends are doing. (Middle school students who know what they’re good at develop greater confidence at an age when this quality can dramatically alter their life choices.)

7) I wish that parents of middle-school students would encourage their kids to develop and share their own opinions. (Kids spend a lot of time with their peers at this age, and the influence of adults is greatly needed in order for them to see issues from a more mature perspective. Those family dinners are crucial at this age!)

8 ) I wish that parents of high school students would encourage their kids to deepen and celebrate the qualities that make them different. (High school students who see themselves as “individualistic” or “independent” are more likely to excel in the areas they find interesting—and this leads to a clearer sense of direction.)

9) I wish that parents of high school students would send their son or daughter abroad for at least a few months prior to graduation. (I’ve written a book on the benefits of the high school exchange or other experiences abroad and made recommendations for the most affordable options—less than $4,000 for an entire year with plenty of full scholarships offered. Spending time abroad at this age is the most brain-boosting and transformational opportunity available for young people and far more advantageous than another same-old semester or year of high school.)

10) I wish that parents of high school students would become savvy mentors rather than crazed coaches or fearful protectors. (If parents commit themselves to wishes one through nine, this will already be the case and their kids will be confident, competent and compassionate young adults who are truly ready for college or anything else they choose to do.)

Teachers, schools and presidential advice matter, but without consistent parental support and encouragement, kids will not have the skills and habits they need to maximize their potential. If we want our sons and daughters to prepare for their most thrilling and fulfilling opportunities in the 21st century, we need to make these wishes come true.

I’ve been having a discussion with a homeschooling advocate about the terminology we use to describe those who are putting together a creative blend of their best education options. Most people understand what homeschooling is and have their own impression about what it looks like. Many picture a young child reading aloud or studying at the kitchen table while Mom is listening or checking in, perhaps preparing lunch or helping another sibling as well. It’s a nice, homey image of family and a supportive learning environment.

But once kids hit about 14 or 15, the image changes. Many who see homeschooling as a viable option for younger students view it as limiting for teenagers. They question whether the parent has the background to be a good teacher in the subjects students need to study during the high school years, and they assume that the student has a limited social environment and few opportunities for self expression, critical thinking and community involvement.

Now, this may be the case for a minority of homeschooling families, but I know perfectly well that most teen homeschoolers are very actively involved in learning in a variety of settings—college courses, online courses, volunteer work, jobs, community activism, study abroad, etc. They are not merely receptacles for Mom’s knowledge or the facts in their text books–they are self-directed learners who embrace their freedom to discover more about the world and themselves in whatever way is most intriguing to them.

Still, the image of the isolated teen homeschooler persists. This is why I chose to use the term Bold Schoolers. These students of traditional high school age are stepping away from the Old School “four-by-four” model: four years of high school followed by four years of college. Bold Schoolers include homeschoolers who are not limited to the school-based path to a high school diploma, but the term also applies to those who attend school during certain years, choose to blend high school and college through dual enrollment or select from a wide range of options available.

Then there’s the issue of unschoolers. These students are really a subset of homeschoolers in that they are not enrolled in school but rather learning in ways that are independent of the traditional school system. They might be using curricula designed for homeschoolers, but more often, they are following their interests and deepening their knowledge and experience in a variety of ways without following a set series of courses.

The problem with the term “unschooling” is what it conjures to those who are unfamiliar with it. For some, it represents an anarchist approach to education, a sort of anti-school mindset that many (especially those in education) find disturbing or detrimental. For others, it sounds like a woo-woo concept that encourages little Johnny to daydream all day in the name of personal growth.

Both homeschooling and unschooling are valid and extremely valuable approaches to education, but despite the increase in the number of families embracing these models, the bias against them remains.

By using the “Bold School” term, I’m simply saying that the traditional approach to education (the older model) is but one option. Families are free to help their kids learn in the ways they find most enticing and enriching. And yes, in our culture, it does take a certain amount of boldness to step off the track and do things differently.

Semantics aside, the real issue is this: the traditional k-12 or k-16 model is not for everyone, and those who opt to engage in alternative ways of learning should be supported and encouraged. EVERY student–including those enrolled in schools–should have access to the options that are most likely to lead them to their most thrilling and fulfilling learning experiences.

Whether kids stay in school, stay home, smart out, or blend their options, their parents must serve as mentors who help their sons and daughters make the best choices. The high school years should not be characterized by passive learning in ANY setting, whether that’s at school, at home, or in front of the computer. No matter what we call it, the education our kids need is the one that allows them to challenge themselves and contribute and collaborate with others in all kinds of exciting ways.

Let’s get bold about helping them create that.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Alaina Zulli here in New York. Alaina is one of the students featured in the book and shares her story of going on a year-long high school exchange to Ukraine.

Alaina’s story is a little unusual, but I really wanted to include it to show that it’s not just the popular, confident, “star” kids who benefit from going abroad. By her own admission, Alaina was an “extremely shy and lonely” student in high school before her exchange. But when she returned, she had been transformed by her experience: she became the confident, popular girl and even had her first boyfriend! Many students who study abroad during their junior year of high school feel disconnected when they come back–they’re just not interested in the social stuff and prefer to segue into college. But there are plenty of cases like Alaina’s in which a student who didn’t really “fit” in high school returns from exchange and enjoys high school for the first time!

I’m so proud of Alaina and the life she has created for herself as a freelance costume designer in New York. She credits her exchange with giving her the confidence to pursue her interests and design her own creative life. This is something that shows up quite frequently among former high school exchange students–they tend to be clear about their interests and excited about continuing their learning in their own way.

Tom and I had a great time at WBUR’s studio in Boston yesterday doing NPR’s fastest-growing talk show, “On Point”
with Tom Ashbrook. It was live and is presented by more than 150 NPR affiliates across the country! You can listen to the recorded show here .

It was a great experience all around–the producers were so excited about our story and really made us feel welcome, and the host couldn’t have been more charming. The callers were beyond civil (perhaps the harsh critics were screened out!) and in fact, many just wanted to call and share their own story of students gone global. We just sat back and let ourselves be validated. Nothing like others’ success stories to reinforce the notion that going abroad is an incredibly beneficial learning experience!

I received many, many personal emails–some during the show!–including many from students who are very interested in going abroad but whose parents are worried about sending them. For many, the money is the perceived obstacle. Once we point out that it costs A LOT to raise a sixteen-year-old here in the US and that many families can actually SAVE THOUSANDS of dollars while their kid is having the most important year of their lives abroad, parents start coming around. Most parents who claim they don’t have enough money to send their student abroad make far more than we do (we’ve been firmly planted in the mid-five figures for several years) and have fewer kids–it’s more about priorities than cash. In addition, it’s important to note that many students in the book who share their stories about their exchange or college study abroad came from low-income families and received scholarships that funded their experiences.

When it comes to going abroad, the biggest obstacle is not lack of money–it’s lack of information and imagination. Learn the facts, imagine the possibilities, and then get out there and play!

I’ve been having fun connecting with Amy Tiemann, author of Mojo Mom: Nurturing Yourself While Raising a Family. I’d been following her updates on Facebook and knew that her book had been rereleased recently, so I was interested in seeing how her book launch was going. It turns out we have the same agent!

Amy has a PhD from Stanford and was a science teacher for years before choosing to stay home as a new mom. She started writing the book she wished she had as a new mother–one that describes not just how to care for a baby but how a mother can care for herself as well. She wrote Mojo Mom to help other women reinvent themselves after becoming mothers.

In addition to her great website/blog at MojoMom.com, Amy offers podcast interviews of all kinds of interesting women. Last Friday, she posted an interview she’d done with me about The New Global Student along with her conversation with a woman who is reinventing herself in Tulum, Mexico.

Check out the podcast here.

And just to show what a fan she is (I am so honored!) take a look at my Amazon page
Amy’s the first one to write a review! And she’s very honest about her own educational journey (head down, PhD at 27) and how the book made her wish she’d taken a few little detours along the way….

Cheers to you, Amy!

That’s the title of a chapter in my book dealing with the AP program and why it’s not the best choice for motivated (or even not-so-motivated) high school students. I’ve quoted a couple of experts and I offer my suggestion for a superior option (two, actually) but the bottom line is this: the Advanced Placement program has become a victim of its own success.

I’m not the only one who feels that way. This week, Jacques Steinberg of The New York Times wrote an article about the results of a recent Fordham Institute study that polled a thousand AP teachers across the United States. He summarizes one of the key findings this way: more than half are concerned that the program’s effectiveness is being threatened as districts loosen restrictions on who can take such rigorous courses and as students flock to them to polish their résumés

Exactly.

There’s been tremendous growth in the number of students signing up for AP courses, and this is generally considered a positive thing–more kids willing and able to take rigorous courses makes everyone feel successful. But here’s the problem: 90 percent of the teachers said the increased numbers are due to more students who want their college applications to look better. Only 32 percent attribute AP growth to more students who want to be challenged at a higher academic level.

So, we’re churning out more AP students who think they’re gaining an edge, we’ve got more teachers (and college admissions officials) questioning whether these kids really have what it takes to do well at a university, there are more parents urging their kids to take as many AP courses as they can, and plenty of schools administrators are scrambling for ways to make them look like they are offering rigorous courses to their students. Meanwhile, the College Board is making money with every AP exam taken. Cha-CHING!

Gosh, this sounds kind of like the SAT/SAT-prep issue, which has millions of students spending their time preparing for a test that is relevant only because the test-makers promote it as such. When are we going to stop listening to the College Board and start considering better options for our kids?

It’s a game, people. And it’s completely avoidable. In fact, those who bypass AP in favor of more relevant options are sailing right past their test-crazed classmates. (much more on this in the book, which comes out in just a couple of weeks!)

Every once in a while, I’ll hear from a parent who asks, “Why are you trying to get kids to graduate from high school and college early? What’s the rush with this bold school approach? It seems almost cruel to force them into the working world so young–wouldn’t it be better to let them stay in college longer and just enjoy it?”

Well, that depends on what their opportunities are AFTER they graduate. Those who cling to the “College is the best time of your life!” concept and accept the “Life’s a bitch and then you die” theory might well want to make college last as long as possible. On the other hand, if you happen to view life itself as a grand adventure and you’re excited to dive into the good stuff, the idea of finishing college early is a lot more appealing.

I offer as an example my third daughter, Teal. She graduated from college in December at the age of 19. Before she graduated, she was hired to work as a multilingual events coordinator for Norwegian Cruise Lines. She’s about two-thirds of the way through her first assignment, a three-and-a-half-month stint aboard the Majesty, which sails a seven-day loop from Charleston, South Carolina through the Bahamas.
She is the youngest crew member aboard, it’s true, but she absolutely LOVES her job and is making friends with all kinds of people from around the world–both passengers and staff.

Teal has been waiting to hear about her next assignment, and today she sent us this Facebook message:

FAMILY! I just got my assignment for my next contract aaaaaandddddd……

OH! AND I WON ROOKIE OF THE MONTH! We have awards every month and there are 12 that are given out, and I won one, which means I got paid 200 dollars, get a passenger cabin for a night plus a nice free dinner in the specialty restaurant with free wine, plus a bunch of fabulous gifts AND I get to wear a special gold star around all month so that everyone knows I am a STAR! MAN, I am rockin’ this cruise thing. Loving it this week!

Gosh, if only she were on campus studying for midterms.

So, what’s it take to get a cruise ship job? Well, in Teal’s case, she had the right combination of skills, experiences and interests.

1. She’s a hard worker.
2. She’s not afraid of settings in which she doesn’t know a single person.
3. She’s friendly, cheerful, a responsible team member and a good listener.
4. She speaks several languages.
5. She has lived abroad and is very comfortable around those from other countries.
6. She was an RA in college, so she has experience leading events and making sure people
are safe and happy on her watch.
7. She worked as a hostess in a busy restaurant, so she knows how to be welcoming and efficient even when things get crazy.
8. She is low-maintenance (the cabins are very small and there’s very little room for personal belongings)
9. She can easily handle being away from friends and family for months at a time.
10. She has no college debt so it’s easy for her to be go without a mailing address for bills, etc.

Of course, in addition to the experience itself, it’s a great job for saving money–after all, room and board are paid for, plus health insurance and travel to all starting ports (NCL flew her from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Charleston, South Carolina, for example). Since you are on a boat with few opportunities to shop or spend money, you can save almost everything you earn.

Teal writes a fun blog (when she gets a chance) about her life on board. Check it out at http://www.TealFrost.com