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[quote=Anonymous]I was a driven, high-achieving, star student at a decent but not amazing public high school. I went to a highly ranked college and chose an academically challenging major. It was a brutal wake-up call to go from an environment where adults all told me how great I was on a regular basis and I was routinely the smartest person in the room to a university where my peers came from TJ, Stuyvesant, and top boarding schools. I went from being a big fish in a little pond to a little fish in a big pond. I struggled to adjust.

In hindsight I struggled because I didn’t spend my HS years learning, building study and executive functioning skills, building resiliency, and thinking about what I was passionate about. I spent 4 years playing the game as best I could. I got all As at all costs. I chose my sports and activities based on where I could win awards or hold leadership positions. All of my choices were based on building my resume and I moved through classes and activities to check boxes. I picked a school and major based on what seemed prestigious and what I thought I was supposed to want. I was winning for the sake of winning.

Some degree of playing the game to optimize opportunities is necessary, but not to the extent that it crowds out everything else. I hope I can help my kids have a more balanced approach. [/quote]

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