namcisum

In My Own Words

I am sure my situation is different from that of most members, still I can use all the help I can get. First, I am a grandpa trying to mentor my 17 year old grandaughter and see that she is prepared for college. I attended the University of Chicago back in the dark ages of the mid 1950s. Since then I have discovered that it is almost impossible to pass on to the current generation anything that I learned in school or in life. Things have changed drastically since my day, and not for the better. My grandaughter Sarah however is showing great promise in high school and the potential as well as an interest in going on to college. Like most kids she changes her mind about every other week about what she wants to do with her life. One week she says she wants to go to Berkeley or Stanford and become a Doctor. Great! But a few days later she says just as seriously that she wants to be a "slacker". It seems to be based on whatever movie or TV show she has watched most recently. On the plus side I was able to get her enrolled in the local Junior College which offers high school students the chance to take their junior and senior years of High School and their freshman and sophomore years of College simultaneously. What a great deal! All her courses are taught by college professors! She is taking all the required high school courses and when she graduates in May, 2009 she will get a high school diploma and will have completed 2 years of College as well! What scares me about that is that she will lack the maturity and social skills of other 18 year olds so I'm thinking of the Peace Corps or something like that for her. Any suggestions?

Parents I'd Like to Meet

Any one who has some suggestions for me as well as parents who might be interested in a highschool/college program such as I described above. I don't know if there are other communities that offer such a program, but maybe you can check into it. By the way, I live in the cultural wasteland known as Las Vegas, Nevada.