According to Forbes magazine publisher and author Rich Karlgaard, our society today is obsessed with early achievement. He suggests that parents and the education system itself push students to take all of the hardest courses, earn the highest grades, achieve the best test scores and gain admission to the most prestigious universities. As an educator and parent of a high school senior with younger children moving into high school, I have witnessed and experienced this reality first-hand.

I recently published my latest book, Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement. Below is a question-and-answer session I did with Psychology Today soon after the book’s release. I’ve edited it exclusively for "Navigating Your Child's Education: Blog for Parents." I am also coming to central Ohio on Thursday, February 13, 2020 to speak to parents on this topic. Click on the picture below for more information.

Every year, I have hundreds of interactions at college fairs and high school visits with students who approach me with a nervous and apprehensive look. With sadness, they admit that their GPA isn’t as high as they would like it to be, or that they don’t do well on standardized tests like the ACT or SAT. My message to those students is always the same, and it’s the same message I give to you today: