College Unbound Focus Collegiate

In this episode, we examine the College Application Process as a Metaphor for the challenges student face in college and in life. The application is the gateway to a student’s future.
The complex process of applying is the beginning of academic and personal independence that requires all kinds of executive function skills such as Critical Thinking, Planning and Prioritization. 
 
We discuss what the process should look like, what to do if you get stuck, why some students get stuck, and the role parents play in the process. Focus Collegiate Founder and Principal Grant Leibersberger and Enrollment and Outreach Director Ann-Marie Stripling give candid advice to parents and students. 

College readiness is a subject in the hearts and minds of students and their parents across the country. A Google search for College Readiness produces nearly 235 million results. 
This is the foundation of the work Focus Collegiate does in the areas of Academic Independence, Life Balance (personal skills and mindset), Social Integration, and Motivation and Decision-Making. 

Focus Collegiate Founder and Principal Grant Leibersberger and Enrollment, Outreach Director Ann-Marie Stripling, and host Jane Taylor discuss the three pillars of college readiness: Self-Awareness, Independence, and Practice.

The episode ends in a lazer round of questions about how to practice Academic Independence, Life Balance (personal skills and mindset), Social Integration,  Motivation, and Decision-Making.

In this episode of College UnBound, Focus Collegiate Founder and Principal Grant Leibersberger and Enrollment and Outreach Director Ann-Marie Stripling discuss the Focus Collegiate Summer Cohort and the importance of college prep. 
The Summer Cohort is a three-week in-person college readiness experience in Boston designed for rising college first-years who need extra support before they land on campus in the fall.  The program addresses academics, life, digital literacy, and independent living skills. Students take classes, work on study habits, and basically get a taste for college life. See sample schedule here. 

The staff at Focus Collegiate knows that in the novel setting of college, some of the assumptions a student has about their own learning profile can start to fall away. In the Summer Cohort, before they are inundated with the new responsibilities of college, the student and our staff start to see where a student might struggle and begin to shore up their strengths, creating long-term strategies for college success. 

At the Summer Cohort, students practice in a safe environment what college will be like and how they will face its rigors. “It’s very important for both students and parents to practice what it is going to be like going away to college…For students, it’s about previewing all the things they will need to learn; for parents, it’s about ‘what am I going to do with myself now that my son or daughter is gone? What kinds of things are going to change for me as a person?’” said Ann-Marie Stripling.

“Forming great relationships is an important output of the Summer Cohort… particularly for the students who are going to be getting to know the staff they are going to be working with in the fall,” said Grant Leibersberger. 

Today our subject is Motivational Interviewing. In short, Motivational Interviewing, or MI as we might call it in this conversation, is an evidence-based communication model that employs empathic, active listening to empower positive change.
Here is a longer definition from MI originators Stephen Rollnick and William R. Miller: “MI is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication with particular attention to the language of change. It is designed to strengthen personal motivation for and commitment to a specific goal by eliciting and exploring the person’s own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion.”

Through Empathic, Active listening, MI empowers students to change using their own meaning, importance, and capacity for change. The staff at Focus Collegiate is incorporating Motivational Interviewing into the work it does with students and their parents. 

Listen in for more information on how this practice benefits college students with complex learning profiles. 

Welcome to College UnBound Season Three, Creating Context for Independence. Today our subject is Career. Focus Collegiate uses the college experience as a metaphor for life, so while few first-year students are focused on life after school, it makes sense to bring career into the picture. Because, of course, college is just the beginning.
Early career awareness among students helps them identify their passions and prepare for future jobs. It also correlates to school success. Research shows that students are more engaged when they can see the connection between their studies and real-world applications.

Our guests are Focus Collegiate Founder and Principal Grant Leibersberger and our Managing Director, Rich Davino. 
Join us as we discuss:
·      How a student knows if they are on the right path
·      How to pivot when they are not
·      How Focus Collegiate career services and approach differ from those traditionally provided by college career services offices
·      How parents can talk to their student about career and why “What are you going to do when you grow up?” is the wrong question

Welcome to ‘You don't know what you don't know – An Occupational Therapist’s Perspective.’ Our guest is Registered Occupational Therapist, Brooke Howard. Brooke is the Clinical Director and founding partner at Skills for Life and is the Director of Transition to Adulthood at the Ivy Street School, in Brookline, Massachusetts. She has an MS in Occupational Therapy from Sargent College at Boston University and an undergraduate degree in neuroscience from Oberlin College. She has been working as a licensed Occupational Therapist since 2005 and has been at Ivy Street School since 2009. 

Her background (including a minor in theology) is the perfect foundation for understanding human behavior, how we make meaning, why we act the way we do, and how we understand the world. 
Brooke is drawn to individuals who think differently than she does and is driven by her desire for more inclusiveness in our society. She approaches her work from two different directions: personal and societal. She seeks to understand each student she works with by learning about their individual experience so that they can find their own path. At the same time, she seeks to help communities understand and engage the young adults she works with.
In this episode, we explore the acquisition of life skills from tooth brushing and laundry to motivation and self-determination.
Brooke reminds us that when teaching life skills, we need to afford young adults grace and compassion because they are busy doing a lot of things such as individuation from parents and adapting to a new environment, new schedules, new demands, and expectations. 
Listen in for insights into:
Self-assessmentPrioritizationVisual MappingLinking habits to goalsBreaking goals down into small stepsAccountabilityInterdependence versus independenceHer parting advice is applicable to all of us: slow down, take a deep breath, and celebrate the victories.