GRAND Magazine - May/June 2019 - 33

grand living
Most parents and grandparents want their
kids to learn values. We want them to have life
experience. We hope they learn grit, tenacity,
and independence. At the same time, we socially
acclimate them to assign value to factors like
grades and athletic achievements. We want our
kids to go to a prestigious college and do well
because some of us believe it proves our parental
successfulness. But does it really? Furthermore, if
all we focus on is the status and reputation of an
"elite school", are we really acting from authentic
motivation?
John Rosemond, in an article in the United
Airlines' Hemispheres magazine, really drives this
point home and raises an intriguing question.
Would you rather raise a child who grows up to
be (a) an honest, ethical, family-centered person
who works on an assembly line, or (b) a habitually dishonest, amoral narcissist who's the CEO of a big
corporation?
If your answer is (a), then answer this: Which child
would you brag more about?

What's the real point
of college?

So then, what's the purpose of an education? What is
the real value of a college experience when all is said and
done? And more importantly: what is life really about?
Career, money, and success are all fine. Of course we
want our kids and grandkids to be successful. But at the
end of the day, the point of college is to learn and discover who you really are. The real value of a college education is that we carry the experience with us for the rest
of our lives. Our experience, self-discovery, and education
can never be lost or taken from us.
To be honest, the idea of going to college with a
major field of study already selected limits the student's
learning horizon. Many students have very little idea
what they want to become. College gives them a chance

33 GRAND

MAY JUNE 2019

to experiment with many different paths and topics. It's
about discovering the way the world works and how to
grow into an independent adult. In many careers these
days, a major doesn't matter as much as the completion
of a degree. Employers know there's huge value in the
college experience.

"College isn't just about
getting a job or setting
students up for their future
career. College is about
fulfilling aspirations and
dreams. Not the dreams of
parents and grandparents,
but the dreams of
students."

So, if we're worried about getting our kids
into a prestigious school, it may be time to
examine our parenting and/or our role as a
grandparent. Are we simply aiming for our kids
to attend a high quality, elite school because
we think it's reflective of how well we've parented and the kind of parent we are? Are we
concerned about our family name and legacy?
Are we looking for proof that our child is learning? Succeeding? In this age of helicopter parenting and failure-to-launch children, it seems
that many parents are over-engaged and more
involved in their kids' lives than they are in their
own happiness and satisfaction. Families have
lost the point of education with the drive to get
into top schools. There are actually more good
schools than any one of us can name. They are
all places to get a very good education.

Education
is a lifelong pursuit

It's important that we all realize that education doesn't
end with college - it's never too late to get an education. If you find you're pressuring kids or grandkids to
get an education simply because you feel you missed out
on a critical element of the educational experience, take
a step back and look at what you're actually hoping to
extract from the experience.

Click here to continue reading
Relationships experts, world-class coaches,
and best-selling authors, Dr. Judith and Dr.
Bob Wright are co-founders of the Wright
Foundation for the Realization of Human
Potential and The Wright Graduate
University and authors of The Heart of the
Fight

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0994809700/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0994809700&linkId=c0cf2342749a51234e00421ef2df453e https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003B6QYSW/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B003B6QYSW&linkId=74a78ba0a510c9871c2e38f745d59213 https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Fight-Couples-Fifteen-Common/dp/1626252572 https://vimeo.com/305609325 https://www.grandmagazine.com/2018/03/transformational-learning-age/ https://www.grandmagazine.com/2018/03/transformational-learning-age/ https://www.grandmagazine.com/2019/04/the-real-value-of-a-college-education/ https://wrightfoundation.org/ https://wrightfoundation.org/ https://wrightfoundation.org/ http://www.heartofthefight.com/ http://www.heartofthefight.com/

GRAND Magazine - May/June 2019

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