I CAN PROUDLY SAY THAT I'VE HIT OVER 1,000 KIDS THIS PAST YEAR.
After facing another round with cancer, I decided to channel my grumpiness into something meaningful. Over the past year, I’ve traveled the world, giving university prep workshops to high school students. From Dubai to Baku, I’ve connected with over 1,000 kids, helping them avoid the bad decisions that can follow misguided advice. Want to know what keeps me going—and what I’ve learned from these incredible students? Read on.
WORKSHOPS
Phil
4/10/20241 min read
After my last little rematch with cancer, I realized that I wanted to do a bit more volunteering in my life, so I asked myself... what makes this Grumpy Professor so, well, grumpy. Number one on my list is definitely when I see really good kids making really bad choices.
Don't get me wrong, in many instances, it's not their fault. They're kids and they're not supposed to know many of the life-lessons that have been dealt to us. Actually, as nature intends, they look to us for guidance. Consequently they end up selecting a path based upon some (mostly) well-intentioned but genuinely (and unfortunately) not-so-good advice -- and the worst part is that many of these decisions will have long-lasting, if not lifetime ramifications.
So I thought I'd share my expertise and wherever my travels take me, I give these interactive workshops to secondary school kids (and their parents) on "How to Select a University" and "How to Prepare for University."
I intend to spend an hour with the kids, but in typical Phil-form, we normally end up going for nearly 2: about 45 minutes discussing the Top 5 (out of about 30) factors to consider, 15 minutes guiding them through a self-scored worksheet, and then they stick around afterwards for about an hour, just to talk.
The best part always comes from that last bit -- and I thought, as I sit here in Baku, 18 stories up, overlooking the Caspian Sea, enjoying my cherry juice, how lucky I truly am, that I'd share with you some of the more impactful conversations and interactions I've had. I hope you enjoy the stories and can maybe learn a little something.
And, since every time I do a workshop, I tally the number of students that attended. I thought I'd share this little milestone. As of my workshop in Dubai last week, I officially hit over 1,000 kids.
#Volunteering, #EducationForAll, #UniversityPreparation, #YouthEmpowerment, #LifeLessons, #Mentorship, #UniversityAdmissions, #HighSchoolCounseling and of course, #GrumpyProfessorWorkshops