All Stress is Not Distress
At Challenge Success, we sometimes get the question: can’t some forms of stress be okay, or even helpful for students?
Audience: Student
Class Rankings
Denise Pope shares why eliminating class rankings can reduce undue student stress without decreasing engagement.
Playing at Sports
As a clinical child psychologist interested in youth sports, I’ve seen a huge cultural shift in the meaning and culture of youth sports. Parents have noticed it, schools have noticed it, and psychology researchers have noticed it.
Don’t Forget To Bring a Doorstop
The most important piece of advice my oldest daughter and I heard when she was packing for college was: Don’t forget to bring a doorstop.
De-bunking College Admission Myths
When some parents and students refer to March Madness, they aren’t necessarily talking about basketball. They are referring to this particularly stressful time of year when college admission decisions arrive via email and snail mail.
Early Specialization and the Science of Success in Sport
As a clinical psychologist who works with athletes, I’m often asked to give talks to groups of parents, teachers, and coaches about healthy youth sport participation.
Gratitude: Good Medicine For Stress and Striving
The Stanford student approached me after the second session of our “Exploring Happiness” course. “I’m sorry but I have to drop your class. The course conflicts with my family values.” Perplexed, I inquired further.
HAPPINESS WITHIN REACH: The Open Secret
“I want to be happier. I just don’t know how.” In my work as faculty, presenter and leadership coach, I hear this confession from adults, 18-80. We live complex, stressful and often disconnected lives, often bombarded by media that convinces us that buying all kinds of stuff will make us happy, beautiful, successful, prestigious, and even more loveable individuals. Sometimes it does, in the short run. The real problem, however, is that this media-created trance can blunt our quieter universal quest for deeper joy and kindness. But there is very good news. Deep happiness is within reach.
A Senior’s Perspective: Success in High School
Everyone wants to be successful in high school. Success comes in a variety of ways: academic success, social success, financial success (except babysitting hasn’t really been cutting it). But the kind of success that I’m describing is not something that comes in the form of a transcript or an Instagram post with this or that person. A couple of weeks ago, as college notifications were rolling out, my friend and I had a long chat and reflected on the end of high school. The conclusion we came to was one that will always stick with me: the people who truly succeed in high school are the ones that can look back and say “Wow, I had a blast doing the things I loved and I would not change a single thing.”
We Need to Challenge the Verb “Achieve”
On the wall of the library, a discolored gray slab of concrete with chipped gold paint proclaims our school motto: “Achieve the Honorable.” It glares down upon an expansive collection of books, each awaiting a curious student. It hangs above shining computers, the drab concrete words contrasting sharply with the innovative technology. It lords over students who scramble to fulfill society’s lofty expectations for success, scribbling last-minute homework to the rhythm of “achieve, achieve, achieve.”
A Student’s Perspective: The Importance of a Caring Community
On paper, Castilleja is not so different from other schools. There are other private schools, even all-girl schools, that can claim the same benefits and advantages that Casti can. At least, I used to think this was the case. A few weeks ago, I discussed the practice of Senior Talks with a friend from a different school. Her school is much like Castilleja – small, all –girls, but located in a different state. They also have senior talks, where seniors speak about an important experience or idea that they want to convey to their peers, in a speech that is often moving and deeply personal. However, at my friend’s school, the best senior talks get voted on in a competition to win scholarship money. At Castilleja, the only prize you get for a senior talk or 8th grade speech is flowers …
High School Is About More Than Test Scores & Rankings
The Washington Post ranking of US high schools has just been released and, as you can imagine, parents around the country are either congratulating themselves on the great choice they made or having an anxiety attack because their child’s school didn’t make the cut. While we could argue about the methodology used, we mostly want to convey that school choice should be about where your child fits and can succeed as much as anything else. We thought hearing from high school counselor and CS board member Lisa Spengler on how she helps her students choose a high school would help provide some perspective on an alternative way to think about high school choice.