Many of us dream of attending the most prestigious schools, the one that "everyone" recognizes. Schools like Yale and Harvard, Cornell and MIT, Standford and Princeton. But have we really stopped to consider what university matches our personality best? On my trip to Gainesville last week, I came across a U.S News & World Report Magazine that focused on colleges. One of the key ideas they pointed out was that
"your college search should start with a long look in the mi r ror".
I completely agree.
Your college search should start by asking yourself: why you want to go to college? How you learn best? How you handle pressure? How key is diversity to you? Because by understanding what you want and who you are, you'll find that your dream college may be a highly prestigious one, or it may just be one that you had never even heard of before.
So I took the magazines advice, and took a "long look in the mirror". What I came to realize was that I would probably be happier, and more successful, "in a campus where I could stand out and in a culture that was oriented towards cooperation instead of intense competition". A school like Northeastern, which offers an amazing business program, puts an emphasis on experiential learning, and at the same time gives you the opportunity to live the college "experience", may just be right for me.
The magazine also emphasized how several universities have begun to include job prep in a students four year education because they've realized that employers are not simply looking for students with knowledge, but they're looking for students that know how to apply their knowledge in real world situations. In fact, according to the article, 9 of 10 surveyed employers said that it was more important to them that a student master skills such as communication, collaboration, and critical thinking, than have an undergraduate major.
Earlier today, I read an article that talked about how some of the teams working at Google have up to 14 percent of employees who never went to college. This is because when hiring employees, Google doesn't simply look for people with the "highest IQ", it looks for people that can "act on the fly". People who are leaders, and who can find solutions to problems where the answer is not obvious.
As I read about all of this, I realized how closely it was all related to the Innovation Academy. Instead of simply studying content, at the IA we focus on learning the skills that employers are currently seeking. We're learning how to work collaboratively, how to plan , org anize , and prioritize w or k, how to communicate verbally, how to obtain and process information.
Currently, most high schools follow a very traditional, content based pedagogy. But in my opinion, to succeed in today's world, studen ts shou ld be receiving an education that's both content and skill based. Fortunately, at the Innovation Academy, we have the opportunity to do exactly this and more!
"your college search should start with a long look in the mi r ror".
I completely agree.
Your college search should start by asking yourself: why you want to go to college? How you learn best? How you handle pressure? How key is diversity to you? Because by understanding what you want and who you are, you'll find that your dream college may be a highly prestigious one, or it may just be one that you had never even heard of before.
So I took the magazines advice, and took a "long look in the mirror". What I came to realize was that I would probably be happier, and more successful, "in a campus where I could stand out and in a culture that was oriented towards cooperation instead of intense competition". A school like Northeastern, which offers an amazing business program, puts an emphasis on experiential learning, and at the same time gives you the opportunity to live the college "experience", may just be right for me.
The magazine also emphasized how several universities have begun to include job prep in a students four year education because they've realized that employers are not simply looking for students with knowledge, but they're looking for students that know how to apply their knowledge in real world situations. In fact, according to the article, 9 of 10 surveyed employers said that it was more important to them that a student master skills such as communication, collaboration, and critical thinking, than have an undergraduate major.
Earlier today, I read an article that talked about how some of the teams working at Google have up to 14 percent of employees who never went to college. This is because when hiring employees, Google doesn't simply look for people with the "highest IQ", it looks for people that can "act on the fly". People who are leaders, and who can find solutions to problems where the answer is not obvious.
As I read about all of this, I realized how closely it was all related to the Innovation Academy. Instead of simply studying content, at the IA we focus on learning the skills that employers are currently seeking. We're learning how to work collaboratively, how to plan , org anize , and prioritize w or k, how to communicate verbally, how to obtain and process information.
Currently, most high schools follow a very traditional, content based pedagogy. But in my opinion, to succeed in today's world, studen ts shou ld be receiving an education that's both content and skill based. Fortunately, at the Innovation Academy, we have the opportunity to do exactly this and more!