Last week, my daughter Sophie brought home her course card for the next school year. This tiny card holds the key to what classes she will enroll in for the long awaited junior year, which is coincidentally known as " let's take every hard class the school has to offer so colleges will like me"year! So , as she brought me this blank card, she began telling me what exactly she was going to put on it.  Among the choices were AP psych, AP US History, Dual Enrollment English Comp , and Dual Enrollment College Algebra . I looked at her, in all her freckled face seriousness , and said " so you are quitting cheerleading, breaking up with your boyfriend and chaining yourself to your laptop for the next year?" She looked so confused, even a bit disappointed when she answered, " a lot of my friends are taking these classes and I'm smart too , you know".
               Oh, do I know ! Smart is one of the top 3 words I use to describe my daughter, with motivated and driven being the other two . But I also use words like, sociable, funny, silly, and oh I don't know, how about 16 ! to describe her as well. The look of this fictitious 11th grade schedule made me think those words would not accurately describe junior year Sophie any longer. Now, I am sure there are kids out there who can do all that and have some semblance of a life. But in my experience, those kids are few and far between.  I have seen kids make and live those sort of academic schedules before, and I have seen those kids (after the first few weeks) crying into their pillows, ( I won't mention any names but one spends ALOT of time at my house dating my son). I have seen great 4 point something GPA's nosedive due to an overzealous schedule which was just too high of a difficulty level for them to maintain. They are KIDS after all.
             Now I am not saying her junior year course card should read with the simplicity of a "Dick and Jane " children book,  but moderation is the key . So, I sat her down and made some (ahem ) suggestions. I suggested she take 2 Dual enrollment, neither one of them being a math class . Sophie's verbal skills/ reading skills are off the chart , but math is a work in progress. So English Comp and Dual Enrollment Psychology are a good fit for her.  I put the kabash on AP classes altogether. In my experience with AP classes , they have been rather disappointing.  The great grade in the class doesn't necessarily lead to a passing AP test grade. Which means "oops sorry that 500 hours of reading you did, 950 notecards you wrote and early Saturday morning strategy sessions you attended  , led to nothing , nada, "no college credit soup for you!" So after a heart to heart and her little red head envisioning a year of stress, and since quitting cheer is never an option for her and neither is quitting her boyfriend , we crafted a very solid, college friendly course card. What we didn't create was a sobbing, stressed out , anxiety ridden high school junior.
               I know there are people reading this right now who don't agree with it. But I'm willing to bet those folks haven't already been through this process yet. So keep reading Shakespeare to your kindergartners and enrolling the 4 year olds in Kumon,  everyone is entitled to their opinion.  But I know colleges like "big picture "type applicants. Good grades, challenging classes, a mix of extracurriculars, volunteer hours and students who will fit into their University atmosphere.  There are still going to be the parents and students who think only GPA and grades matter and in some cases like MIT, Harvard, Stanford (you know, the genius schools) that is probably a resounding YES ! Grades and GPA are the benchmark for fitting in at those esteemed schools. But for the rest of us, and in particular a little girl with visions of being a Tarheel cheerleader and UNC student ,crafting a big picture will be the focus.  And maybe, just maybe enjoying the one & only junior year in high school she's ever going to get.