After having been through the angst of college planning with my own kids I realized that most families are probably feeling the same pressure of the “college-planning process.” Because my firm helps college-bound students and their parents with college planning I decided to ask an expert about how students and parents can handle this stress.
I talked with “America’s Stress Coach,” Dr. Scott Sheperd (www.mystresscoach.com), who has over 30 years experience working with young people and adults in difficult situations ranging from high pressure jobs to terminal illnesses. He helps people rethink the way they look at stress and personal power. He offered his unique observations on this challenging time for college-bound students and their parents:
· All of us tend to make stress worse. For example a student who thinks, “If I don’t make the right choice for college my life is through,” is only loading up on stress and usually ends up not thinking clearly about college choices, careers and finances.
· Refuse to be a victim of this process. At some point in our lives we’ll probably be faced with a major tragedy. College is not one of those tragedies- even though it can be overwhelming, confusing or scary. Keeping it in perspective is a choice for students and an important step in taking responsibility for themselves.
· Students and Parents are dealing with different issues. Have you ever heard a parent try to guide their student to nearby school and the student just wants to get as far away as possible? Stress is created when parents and students don’t talk about the issues of career planning, college choice or college funding. The odds go up, however, that good things will happen if people are not defensive but open and thinking with a clear mind.
Don’t we all want to make this process work for students and their parents? Approach it like a trip. Plan where you want to go and talk about it. And don’t forget to decide to have fun along the way! For the complete article go to Dr. Scott Sheperd’s blog, http://goodsheperd.typepad.com/stress/2008/02/going-to-colleg.html.
Premier College Funding Solutions, Inc. comes to the aid of overwhelmed parents and college-bound students by showing them a process of career-planning, college search and selection and college funding. Please visit us at www.mypcfs.com or call us at 800-252-6795.
