…and welcome back! We left off right where I had taken a special test and I had been interviewed for admission to a special science and math magnet school at S.V. High. Drumroll please…and yes, I was admitted to the program! I was so happy; I was still going to be in classes with my friends! We were the smartest kids (or so we thought) in the district, maybe even the whole state! In the words of “Titantic,” we were on top of the world!

 

But then the program started. My friends, who were expected to study 12 hours a day (or so it seemed), make perfect grades and who were receiving extra tutoring seemed to be handling the crushing workload and stress just fine. We were going to be the next Ph.D.s in physics finding new galaxies and planets, or perhaps medical researchers who would discover the cure for cancer. Most of the teachers were okay—but then, there was Ms. M*****n, who seemed to resent all of us for being bright and made every effort to make our freshman Geometry class a living hell. “You kids are smart,” she’d say, “you figure it out and I’ll tell you if you’re right or not!”

 

Quickly, I began losing the confidence in the two areas where I’d been previous deemed, by myself and standardized tests, a success: science and math. Everyone around me must be smarter than I am, I thought. Omigosh, I’m such a failure; what will my friends say? Though I finished the semester, my mom pulled me out of the program. Yes, I was out but the damage was done.

 

Lesson #2: The time between middle school and high school is a highly transitionary time for young women. Most specialized academic programs truly cater to about 10% of the students who test into them—and much parental support is going to be required (read: two-parent household, preferably with a stay-at-home mom or dad). If you are a single parent, I would not recommend going ahead with such a program, but rather let your bright daughter(s) go the Honors/AP route. IMHO, this is a more stable and effective way to ensure that your daughter(s) will receive a rigorous academic experience that, at the same time, will allow her/them to build or maintain confidence in science and math.

 

Next blog topic: What does it mean to have engineering and technology in your daughter(s)’ academic experience? What are some of the best ways to integrate them? What does engineering truly mean?