Notes to my 17-year-old self: This let­ter is not about me—although I am scin­til­lat­ingly won­der­ful, of course—and it is not about the future, despite the fact that there is so much I am bust­ing to tell. At least, it isn’t about these things in any direct sense. You see: I know you. I know you […]

High school stu­dents take notice: Don’t expect Mom and Dad to leave imme­di­ately after they move you in to school. On Mon­day, the New York Times ran an arti­cle high­light­ing the var­i­ous ways col­leges han­dle heli­copter par­ents who are help­ing their chil­dren move in to their new dorms. More specif­i­cally, col­lege deans and ori­en­ta­tion leaders […]

Dear Jacob (the 17 year old ver­sion), Your 23-year-old self thought your 17-year-old self should be aware of the fol­low­ing: Please start ques­tion­ing your­self and take some time to reflect on the choices you make and how they define your char­ac­ter. End this robotic non-sense. There’s no instruc­tion guide this time around, but you can […]