Lessons from College Tours at Age 46
Recently I polled my Instagram followers if I should share my college tour experience, and there was resounding, “YES PLEASE!” I mean, this college research and application process is no joke, and neither is raising our teenage children.
Recently, I was chatting with my HS besties in our group text thread, some of whom are going through the same or recently have navigated this experience. We all agree…this is NOTHING like it was in 1993 when we were Seniors preparing for college. We barely toured (maybe 1 school), didn’t get much help from Mom or Dad, and only applied to about 5 schools at most, not 13! I was even told, “don’t even think about looking outside of the SUNY school options” (In case you missed it, I grew up Upstate NY, outside of Syracuse).
There was no Common App, no virtual tours, and I certainly had no idea there might be a beautiful, tiny, 1000 student college with women’s lacrosse in Montgomery AL that takes 2 flights, and a tiny rental car to get to- that may just be the school of my dreams! 😂
Or how about when among 4 other colleges in a 6 hour driving triangle, my daughter Lauren says, “Oh by the way Mom – just so you know, I never even watched the virtual tours so I don’t know what we are getting into”, as we jump into the tiny Mitsubishi Eclipse roller skate like rental car after landing. And that was following the worst, no lie, drive to Logan Airport I have ever experienced!
Now, before I get to the lessons we can all relate to in our lives and businesses, here’s a bulleted snapshot of the trip.
✈️ 3 Flights (BOS-ATL-MTG…ATL-BOS)
🚗 Rental Car (photo below) – 500+ miles – Montgomery to Birmingham to Huntsville (PS beautiful progressive city!) to Marietta.
And let me add – this car had a terrible alignment to the left, and an incredible shake, so as it rained, (yes, yes it rained the entire trip south!) I could not take my hands off the steering wheel at, if I was lucky 78 mph (the car had no balls). Lauren was delegated the JOB of running the windshield wipers.
Down there, people are not in a rush, they pull over for you. There are often 4-7 lane highways, and tractor trailers everywhere. This alone was traumatic to us New England girls. But, I only had to fill the tank upon return for under $30, so there was an upside!
🏫 4 Tours - one we cancelled ahead of time because it was clearly not what she was thinking when we pulled up the day before
🏨 A different Hotel each night (closing out with 4 hotels, including a stay after we landed in Boston to celebrate my eldest’s 20th Birthday.)
🏙️ 7 Cities
😋 6 restaurants and one night of Walmart purchased hotel dinner snack because we could not handle being in another room or restaurant with people.
ALL OVER 5 DAYS mind you!
After all of it, we added up a $2247.43 experience to witness, validate and now share these important…
Lessons from a College Tour Circuit
· Do your homework ahead of time- Google, YouTube, social, ask people for input if they know the “product.”
· Be open to learning new things and receiving information that is essential for your growth.
· Put your toe in the water – physically go to the person, place etc. – your body and energy can guide you in ways you cannot experience from a distance.
· Consider a variety of options to narrow down what you are really deeply looking for – knowing what you like and what you don’t like gives you more clarity.
Clarity = Intentional Decision Making
· Don’t rush on a life altering decision! Feel into the future version of yourself and ask what you are really looking for, what you are looking to gain and what you need to make that a reality you have a guide within.
· Make the best of what you have, find abundance in the presence (we were safe, and gas was cheap!) and gratitude for what you have.
· And most importantly enjoy the ride!
Isn’t this like navigating our business growth, and our own personal development journey???
We have choice and opportunity at a much wider spray and within our grasp more so today than ever before. The only limitation is not taking the daring steps to invest in learning more about how to truly achieve your big dreams.
We could have kept it small, but don’t you think your future success is worth the investment to explore possibilities by learning from others, testing the waters, and asking for guidance?
To wrap it up for Lauren, these schools are no longer her choice (well, there is a very strong likelihood that one will be her post grad home), but she did learn what she likes, what she doesn’t, and more so what she wants to experience and what she needs in support to achieve her goal. She now has more clarity on where to go from here. That will save her and us A LOT of money and time in the long run and get her to her destination feeling more supported and aligned.
If you’re ready to let go of the limitations you may be placing on yourself, I invite you to join the Main Street Collective (don’t worry, I won’t put you in a rickety car to learn your lessons. LOL!).
Instead, I’ll take you on your own 6-month trip of 1:1 coaching, group coaching (live & recorded), guest expert training, access to a library of resources, open office hours, monthly celebration parties, and…
IF YOU SIGN UP BEFORE 12/15, you’ll also get Voxer app support from me – All for the 2022 price of just $3,000! (after 12/15, the price jumps to $5K and Voxer support is gone)
Get a jump like Lauren did! Learn from others and with others on how to achieve your goals faster, smarter and with the support you desire.
