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Category: Students & Families

The Top Seven Reasons High School Students Should Create a Resume

The Top Seven Reasons High School Students Should Create a Resume

Last time, we discussed the top four reasons for professionals to regularly update their resumes. This time, we look at the top reasons why all high school students should create a resume. So, when should high school students do this, you may ask? I believe that either during–or right after–a student’s freshman year may be the best time for a student to create a resume. But don’t stress or worry, though, because it is technically never too late to do…

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Four Tips to Consider When Working With Late-Bloomers

Four Tips to Consider When Working With Late-Bloomers

Our society is often quick to embrace and celebrate prodigies and people doing noteworthy things at young ages. In youth-centric–or, some might even say, youth-obsessed–cultures, like, perhaps, the United States, people who take longer to develop, or take more time to find their footing in life, are usually not celebrated in the same ways as the young gifted learner, musician, or athlete, for instance. Because of this, late-bloomers can often be overlooked, casually dismissed–or worse yet, completely written off by…

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Nine Points to Consider When Working With Brand-New Students

Nine Points to Consider When Working With Brand-New Students

Every year, new students arrive to each and every school–many, at the beginning of the school year; others, arriving at different, various points as the year progresses. With this reality in mind, I wanted to take a look at several things to consider when helping new students get acclimated and comfortable in their newest educational setting. 1. Carve Out Adequate Time to Meet With the New Student(s): This may sound a bit naive, but when I was a brand-new counselor,…

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Five Reasons Why School Counselors Should Consider Keeping School Supplies and Food in Their Offices

Five Reasons Why School Counselors Should Consider Keeping School Supplies and Food in Their Offices

When I got my (first and current) school counseling job, one of the first things I decided to do was keep a designated space in my office for students to gather-up needed (free) school supplies or to grab a quick snack. Sure, this ends up costing several hundred dollars a year (probably similar to what a lot of teachers spend to stock their classrooms), but the pay-off is more than worth it in my mind. If you are a savvy…

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Super-Charging Your Student Loan Repayments: How to Pay Back Loans Quicker and Save Substantial Money (Part I of II)

Super-Charging Your Student Loan Repayments: How to Pay Back Loans Quicker and Save Substantial Money (Part I of II)

Seemingly plastered over the news these days, it’s little secret that student loan debt is a big deal to a lot of people in 2021. With outstanding debt loads that can rival, or beat, many car notes–or even approach some mortgage payments–it’s a burden that is certainly felt strongly by many tens of millions of Americans. I, too, have felt that burden. However, recently, I was able to pay off my student loans in six years and three months’ time–shaving…

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Tapping-Into the Power of Thank-You Notes

Tapping-Into the Power of Thank-You Notes

In today’s digital age, anything hand-written on paper almost seems like a nod to times long past; an ancient relic of a previous era and time. To be sure, today’s technologies have ushered in many small and larger conveniences for people gradually over time, but maybe that makes a tangible note of thanks and gratitude all that much more potentially-impactful. With that, let’s take a look at ten reasons why thank-you notes should be an often-used resource in your toolbox–and…

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An Unsung Bastion of American Educational Democracy: Why More Students Should Consider Community Colleges

An Unsung Bastion of American Educational Democracy: Why More Students Should Consider Community Colleges

One of America’s best-kept secrets might not be so much a secret as much as an often-overlooked, unsung hero in the landscape of higher education. That secret? The community college. Perhaps part of what makes the American college system the envy of the world is the fact that there is such a wide breadth of options—and levels of accessibility—for anyone who wants access to a college experience and education. Community colleges; public state universities; private colleges; Liberal Arts schools; colleges…

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Acing the College Interview: How Students Can Make the Most of This Key Application Piece

Acing the College Interview: How Students Can Make the Most of This Key Application Piece

While it might be true that college interviews for high school students are not as prevalent, perhaps, as in days past, a number of institutions still extend interviews to some prospective applicants that it is serious about—or close to making a decision upon. For students, this can be equal parts exciting and nerve-wracking. Questions abound, such as: “What are they going to ask me?” “Who is going to interview me?” “How should I dress?”—just to name a few. With those…

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Supporting 1st Generation Future College Students: How School Counselors and Educators Can Help Students Bridge the Gap Between High School and College

Supporting 1st Generation Future College Students: How School Counselors and Educators Can Help Students Bridge the Gap Between High School and College

I guess that I never really thought of myself as a first-generation student throughout most of college. I went to a smaller, not highly-competitive high school where a good number of students went on to college (whether many finished or not is another story) and a smaller, but certainly not statistically insignificant, number of students did not go to college. Most people around me did not seem to obsess over college brands, rankings, or prestige (and most of what I…

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The In’s-and-Out’s of Student Letters of Recommendations: What to Know and Who—and How—to Ask

The In’s-and-Out’s of Student Letters of Recommendations: What to Know and Who—and How—to Ask

Often, students will ask me the following question (or a variation of): “How do I ask a teacher for a letter of recommendation?” This article will break down the process for students by offering some top insider tips, strategies, and things to consider when asking teachers, school counselors, and other professionals for recommendation letters, typically for college—especially for selective and highly selective institutions, as a large number of colleges do not require letters of recommendation from students (and also for…

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