Guidance Counselors and College Bound High School Seniors

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You are listening to the Balancing Act podcast. Here's your hosts,

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Jamie Wonko and Joe Vitale.

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Hey, guess what? What? Hey, we're officially recording at long last.

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What's up? At long last. Hello. Hello.

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Welcome to the Balancing Act podcast. I'm Jamie Wonko here with Mr. Joseph Vitale. Hello.

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Hello. How are you, friend? We are in the throes of yet another

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long winter season but here we are so funsy

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funsy how's your snowblower um my snowblower

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is amazing shout out to a young man from

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uh gotta love facebook mark facebook marketplace whatever

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facebook moms whatever it is uh and

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thankfully i had a young man come and help me uh fix the carburetor which was

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amazing um it was a funny joke we did not murder each other so it's great you

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know because you don't want that to happen you never know who you're going to

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meet on the interwebs yeah you know you never know who you're going to meet

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so yeah it's good we got the snowblower working and working,

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new carburetor little learning experience for me to figure out how everything

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goes and how everything works and all the things okay um,

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Luckily, I try to pay it forward in my neighborhood because I have some elderly

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neighbors and I try to help them out because people help out my parents across

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town because they really can't be out there shoveling and doing things themselves

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due to their own health issues.

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So I'm appreciative of the fact that other people help my parents.

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So I try to make sure that the snowblower gets lots of use and helps as many people as possible.

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And my lovely neighbors next door who are Filipino made me a delicious Filipino soup, which was great.

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Do you know what it's called? I do not know what it's called.

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It is blazing hot and it has ginger in it.

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So it's hot, spicy hot. No, hot isn't like temperature hot. I took.

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Oh, got it. I was like, oh, let me try this. And I was like, oh, I burned my mouth.

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So that then, you know, it's good. So, yeah, they're very appreciative and they're awesome.

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And, you know, just trying to help as many people as possible.

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So but as usual, I'm over it.

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I just I'm over it. Winter can go scratch. I just I'm done. I hate that expression.

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Yeah, I know. I know you hate that expression, but, like, it's one of those

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I've got to throw out there.

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Go scratch and, like, someone saying, like, take a pee. I can't even say it. I don't know.

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Instead of, like, just, like, I have to pee. That I can get a water.

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Oh, I don't like that one either. Yeah.

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Yeah. No. No. No. Not for me.

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So you didn't want to, you know, just go make snow angels and. No. No.

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No, I did not. I wanted nothing. I'm not a let's go play in the snow person,

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which is kind of funny because like I used to ski and like go out and like do things.

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But now, no, I don't want anything to do with it. Skiing.

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Skiing. Yeah. Not for me. Not for you? Never did it?

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I went once back in the 90s with a club at school and it was so icy and all

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we most of us just did was fall, you know, just slip side.

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And, you know, they took us on like a Friday at like five o'clock.

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So it was dark and cold and icy and I guess not like the optimal skiing experience.

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I did have a very good friend who was really good at skiing and would teach

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ski lessons and things like that. And he was always like, come on, I can.

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And I was like, no, thank you. You know, if it's on water, yes.

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If it's, you know, if it's from the sea, it's for me.

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But no, no. Well, you know what doesn't slip side around?

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That would be our presenting sponsor, Teacher's Insurance Plan.

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So, yeah, our season three presenting sponsor, as we are into our episode,

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we want to make sure we shout them out.

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Season three is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Teacher's Insurance

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Plan. Check out their website below for more information and to get a quote.

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and exceptional customer care to New Jersey and Pennsylvania educational employees.

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And, you know, speaking of Teacher's Insurance Plan. Just like me.

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Just like you. I mean, I got to, you know, I am in the presence of a TV star.

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I'm just very, very in awe right now. I'm very, very flush. I'm very nervous.

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Somebody, somebody, exactly. Somebody I know is now in a, in a commercial.

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A customer testimonial.

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A customer testimonial. We have a 30 second version, a 60 second version or

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a 90 second version. Do you have a favorite version?

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All of them. There is no, there could possibly not be a favorite version.

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The one that has Jason in it the most is the one that I like. Is your favorite?

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Yeah. Just because, you know, my dude's got sleeves on and I'm just not used

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to it. I'm not used to the sleeves.

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It was a lot. It was really, it was a great day as a family.

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It was a lot of fun. And I think that that's something that I'll have, you know, forever.

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It's like a memory of like the, you know, space and time of the ages.

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And, you know, it was really so well put together and it really featured Drew,

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which is so interesting because he is not an on-camera presence,

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but it's pretty remarkable.

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You know, I think because when your children are growing up, they're...

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You know, you see them every single day and every single day.

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And then there are these moments as they get a little bit older where you like

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notice the change and, you know, and it's so subtle and it happens over time

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that you sometimes are too close to it to recognize it.

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And, you know, and there's been some moments over the last few months,

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especially with him, where I'm able to like, I'm like, wow, you really are like a grown up person.

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And, you know, some of the things that were so difficult for him as a younger person are now,

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you know, like they had senior night and everybody had to make a speech and,

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you know, his like ability to get up and stand confidently in front of,

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you know, a hundred people and talk was just, it was awesome.

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And it was senior night for...

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The swim team, correct? You just didn't, you hadn't mentioned which one it was.

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Cause I know he's in band, he's in swim. So yeah.

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Swim for swim season, um, band is full year. So we don't do any of those wrap

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up situations until June for that.

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But, um, for, for swim, the season is over.

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And, um, and so they, well, so they have like a big banquet in, in a couple of weeks.

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Um, and I'm sure that they'll speak again, but you know, so they had this moment

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to speak and each of them had to say, you know, what they learned from their

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experience on the swim team and also, you know, some of their favorite memories.

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And they also had to share their plans for the future. Oh, that's great.

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And yeah. And so it was really special to see there's quite a there's quite

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a well, our kids happen to be in a gigantic class.

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Yes. Right. There's so many kids in their graduating class compared to some of the other classes.

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So it's really like it does make sense that, you know, when he was finishing

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up the season, we had like a senior night at the football game to honor like

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at the last football game.

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And there are 13 seniors that were that are a part of marching band.

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And then for swim team, there's nine.

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So the numbers are pretty big compared to some of the other grades,

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which, you know, is on par for the amount of kids in their grade.

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And it was just so cool to see, you know, like. And just to watch other people's kids.

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You know, there's been, you know, some kids that he's been on,

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you know, these teams with or these organizations for four years.

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And some of them, you know, are from kindergarten.

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So to see other people...

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Enjoying, like, your children is so lovely.

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It really just speaks to the community. And then also to be able to sort of

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delight in other people's children is remarkable because you just,

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you remember them, you know, at five and six years old.

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And then to see them, you know, growing into themselves is really,

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it's really, it's an awesome experience, I think. Yeah, that sounds really great.

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And I did see, you know, he does this nice little featurette,

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I guess you would say in the commercial, he's got a part where he reads and

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talks about how expensive the, uh, well, he wasn't reading.

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No, I, I know he was, it was this whole, that was him speaking.

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Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

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And you guys too, right? I mean, it was all off the cuff and it was just,

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you know, there were some questions that we were asked and then those were our genuine responses.

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Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't scripted.

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Oh, and I think you guys that are, it's, it's very, very well done.

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Thank you. I mean, I wish it would be a national spot. I feel like,

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come on, let's go get us out there.

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My girls were very upset that they didn't have any, like none of their speaking

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parts came to be because they're like the most camera friendly of everybody in the house.

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Yes, they are. So they were slightly disappointed, but, and of course,

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like, and this is just so funny.

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I, you know, had, I knew I had heard like that it was getting ready.

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Like the editing process had almost been completed.

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And, um, and then of course, as any teacher knows, who's the first to see it, your students.

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Yeah. And so the kids at school actually were the ones who said like,

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Mrs. Wonka, I saw, I saw your family on TV. And I was like, what?

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You know, this TV to them is YouTube. But, um, you know, so it was really funny

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that, and they, a lot of them have found us on this podcast.

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They, they have. And what's really interesting, uh, is there's sometimes like

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I'll be walking through the hallway and I'll be like, wow so yeah tiktok and

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i'm like no autographs no autographs um you know just being a sarcastic,

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and like it's a public show uh and all our opinions are our own and we don't

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talk about things that are political or controversial but we talk about things

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that are our takes and we talk about our families and we talk about things that

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we're passionate about yeah um so.

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I'm actually excited that they have found it. Like, yeah, I want them to see me dancing.

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No, but you make me do it under the guise of... They make me see me dancing

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all the time in class, so it's not really that much different. Yeah. Other than...

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Listen, and the ones that had me know that I'm out of my mind because,

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you know, I do all the things.

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If we met you, you know, then you know. Yeah. Like, I'm still,

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like, I... To me, I was so angry that I got sick right before Christmas break

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because like we had spirit weeks and I had so many plans.

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There was like a dress like a movie character day and I was going to be a Christmas

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tree farmer from a small town who falls in love with the big city lawyer from

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a Hallmark movie from a made up Hallmark movie called Pine and Punishment.

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And yes, I used Chachi BT to take my wife and I and make us into like movie

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characters on a movie coaster and I had them ready to hang up around the building.

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Like that was going to be like my thing. Wow, that was a lot.

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I mean, there was, you know, listen.

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I hope you do that next year. When I go in. I know, you don't have that.

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You always have a lot of, you have a lot of accessories.

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You have a lot of props. Yeah, there's a lot. Yeah, of course.

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Snacks. You go all out with whatever it might be.

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I mean, if you're a snack captain, you got to come correct. I do take it seriously.

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Yeah, I do take it seriously. You don't do anything that way. I get it.

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No, I am so ready for like dress. We're going to do like swap day where it's

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like dress like a student day. I have so many plans.

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Yeah. So many plans. And that was one of my favorite days of the year last year

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because I walked around with like, you know, I had a wig with like the curly

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hair. So I looked like the alpaca.

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Kind of like my son. My son has that haircut. It's not a perm.

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No, it's not. Which is so amazing to me. Like all of a sudden he was like,

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you just grew it out. And it's like, bloop. That's the way his hair was.

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My hair's pretty. Yeah. God bless him. Um,

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So, yeah, I enjoy stuff like that. I think it's cute when they notice.

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And a big part of their world is online.

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And it's almost like the new version of you see your teacher in the supermarket

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and you can't believe they're in the supermarket.

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Yes. Like, what are you doing here? And I kind of feel like it's a very similar

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reaction to, like, my teachers are on the Internet. Like, what are you guys doing here?

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We didn't know you knew there was an Internet, you know. And so I think it's great.

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And it's all, I mean, and I say to them, like, it's G-rated.

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You may not like it that much.

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It's, there's nothing like, you know, it's, it's about teaching. It's about what we do.

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It's about our lives. And there is nothing that we're talking about that you can't listen to. No.

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There's nothing secretive. It's not, you know, and then they're like, yeah.

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Well, there's been a little, there's been a little like people liking our posts,

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like maybe like reposting our posts. I'm sure somewhere there's some kind of

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threat where it takes our, our, what we talk about, puts fart noises under it,

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puts it out on the internet. It's like, you know.

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I don't know if they have that much time or,

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or energy or bandwidth. Yeah. To put it to it. Yeah. I hear you.

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But, you know, I mean, nobody's been mean. Let's put it that way.

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It's everybody's been, you know, everybody's been nice so far. I mean, not to our faces.

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Yeah. So, like, shout out to any of our, any students who have found us. So.

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Here we are. We were never lost, you know. No. We were. We were the whole time.

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Yes, we were. And we appreciate you for finding us. We do. And no,

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we will not follow you back.

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No, we will not follow you back. No, of course not. There will be none of that.

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There's a lot of like oh you follow us back and uh you

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know our district doesn't have policies regarding stuff like that but that's not

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our that's not our jam we don't want to be following you back and look

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we don't follow anybody we're exclusive who's the

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one like that doesn't follow anyone except for like it's like kentucky it's

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a kentucky fried chicken i was just gonna say right like kentucky fried um kentucky

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fried chicken follows 11 guys named herb and the Spice Girls for 11 Herbs and Spices.

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Like, that's who they follow. And that's it.

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Which, I am all for it. And I am all for the comedy that surrounds following

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11 guys named Herb on the internet.

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I bet there's got to be lots more. I'm sure there are.

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I don't think they make those guys much anymore. Like, they don't make Herbs.

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Like, you know. Not the way they used to. That's an old name.

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That's an old name. So, yeah, we're plugging along with our season here,

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and it's hard to believe we're pretty much halfway through it,

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as we not only move halfway through the school year,

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and now lots of things are happening.

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Our kids are ending their semester, they're starting a new semester,

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it's prom talk, it's prom weekend, it's what college they're going to go to, all those things.

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The exciting stuff is happening. It's going very quickly. It is.

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Should we do like a little mid-year update?

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Sure. A little mid-year update of how things are going?

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Yeah. I have been having lots and lots of chats with different parents whose

00:15:24.113 --> 00:15:30.073
children are older than mine or different experiences that they've had for, you know,

00:15:30.193 --> 00:15:35.013
how you narrow down some of the difficult choices.

00:15:35.013 --> 00:15:38.573
You know, so how do you take what your original list was?

00:15:38.593 --> 00:15:43.653
And I remember when we had Jen on and she was the college advice,

00:15:43.973 --> 00:15:46.513
you know, counselor, expert, all the things. Right.

00:15:46.713 --> 00:15:53.173
And I remember her saying, you know, don't apply anywhere that you don't like

00:15:53.173 --> 00:15:54.813
100 percent want to go to.

00:15:55.153 --> 00:16:00.213
And I remember at the time thinking like that sounds like great advice that

00:16:00.213 --> 00:16:01.473
I'm not going to follow. Right.

00:16:02.408 --> 00:16:08.608
Uh, same. So we, my children applied to a number of places that they had not

00:16:08.608 --> 00:16:13.828
seen, uh, knowing that they have reputations that are good for the programs

00:16:13.828 --> 00:16:14.988
that they were looking to go into.

00:16:15.508 --> 00:16:23.828
And like, I guess, demographically size wise, they were comparable to the schools that they liked.

00:16:24.648 --> 00:16:27.388
Um so the and we thought like okay if they

00:16:27.388 --> 00:16:30.708
don't get into the schools that are like on the top of their list we

00:16:30.708 --> 00:16:33.548
have those to then look into if they were to get in or

00:16:33.548 --> 00:16:36.348
not get in um so we didn't

00:16:36.348 --> 00:16:39.628
really follow that advice either but it's also

00:16:39.628 --> 00:16:42.608
so easy to i don't want to say it's easy to apply

00:16:42.608 --> 00:16:45.548
but it's kind of easy for them to it's like check a box and

00:16:45.548 --> 00:16:48.528
off it goes yes um and a lot of these schools have

00:16:48.528 --> 00:16:51.308
have waivers and coupons and this and that it's free

00:16:51.308 --> 00:16:54.148
it's pulled this and so it's not like that much

00:16:54.148 --> 00:16:57.948
of an expense and even if they're not they're not overly expensive

00:16:57.948 --> 00:17:00.788
to apply to a school if you're interested in attending that

00:17:00.788 --> 00:17:03.568
school so right we we paid for

00:17:03.568 --> 00:17:06.468
one of the seven i know

00:17:06.468 --> 00:17:09.308
we had to pay for one we had codes for the rest of them

00:17:09.308 --> 00:17:12.368
but um which i thought was fair and decent and all

00:17:12.368 --> 00:17:18.688
of that there i've read a lot about people feeling um a lot of adults having

00:17:18.688 --> 00:17:25.468
feelings about the common app making the process more difficult and confusing

00:17:25.468 --> 00:17:29.388
because of the ease in which the kids can apply.

00:17:29.608 --> 00:17:34.448
So what they're doing is they're getting so many more kids applying to places

00:17:34.448 --> 00:17:43.468
that they really aren't like completely drawn to and then taking spots away from other kids who are.

00:17:44.476 --> 00:17:48.456
Do you see what I'm saying? Yeah, no, I do. I'm thinking as you're talking,

00:17:48.596 --> 00:17:49.976
I think that there are definitely some of that.

00:17:50.216 --> 00:17:53.316
But we're not, I guess we're speculating, right?

00:17:53.376 --> 00:17:56.936
Because we're not really on that side of the fence because we're,

00:17:57.116 --> 00:17:58.916
like, we're not in those schools to know.

00:17:59.636 --> 00:18:03.616
All I know is when I filled it out on a booklet and had to write and write and

00:18:03.616 --> 00:18:08.076
write and redo and redo and every single time you started from scratch,

00:18:08.076 --> 00:18:11.656
rather than you have one essay,

00:18:11.976 --> 00:18:18.096
maybe two, and you're just sort of reusing each of those sections over and over

00:18:18.096 --> 00:18:21.336
again, it is incredibly easy to apply,

00:18:22.036 --> 00:18:25.056
even if there is very little interest in going somewhere.

00:18:25.876 --> 00:18:30.736
Agreed. I'm trying to think of the word. It's not ambiguous.

00:18:31.196 --> 00:18:34.616
It's like they apply, and

00:18:34.616 --> 00:18:37.656
some of the directions are very like

00:18:37.656 --> 00:18:40.476
uh they're vague for one i think like because some

00:18:40.476 --> 00:18:43.356
schools are like submit your sat but only if

00:18:43.356 --> 00:18:48.696
you blah blah blah or like or it's like you know submit your transcript or one

00:18:48.696 --> 00:18:51.636
letter of recommendation dope you need two letters of recommendation no you

00:18:51.636 --> 00:18:53.936
can't have from a teacher it's got to be from a guidance counselor and it's

00:18:53.936 --> 00:18:59.416
just like yes i even though it's common for all the schools there are still

00:18:59.416 --> 00:19:01.936
intricacies in each specific school,

00:19:02.176 --> 00:19:05.216
and also by a specific program, which also makes sense.

00:19:05.416 --> 00:19:08.596
If you want to get into a very competitive pharmaceutical program,

00:19:08.996 --> 00:19:11.736
there should be additional steps for you, an additional essay,

00:19:12.216 --> 00:19:13.896
more tests you have to do, whatever it is.

00:19:14.036 --> 00:19:20.216
My kids aren't going into that, so that's not anything you're looking into, but it's definitely...

00:19:21.844 --> 00:19:27.824
There are extra essays and things like that that they were navigating and trying

00:19:27.824 --> 00:19:36.724
to figure out about which schools to submit what to and whether or not it was

00:19:36.724 --> 00:19:38.744
the best practice or not.

00:19:38.884 --> 00:19:43.304
There's no place to really go that's the definitive answer of,

00:19:43.364 --> 00:19:44.624
here's what you should do.

00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:52.760
No. And I suppose that's why people do pay for services like Jen through educational

00:19:52.760 --> 00:19:58.320
connections, because she would eliminate many of those questions, right?

00:19:58.460 --> 00:20:05.620
And many of those obstacles or confusions or anything else. And I and I've also read quite a bit of.

00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:14.300
I hate to say like trash talk, but dumping on of guidance counselors,

00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:20.160
particularly in the high school. So what I did was I joined quite a bit of groups

00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:22.300
on Facebook in particular.

00:20:23.100 --> 00:20:30.440
And so it was, you know, questions and guidance, you know, in that sort of realm, right?

00:20:30.540 --> 00:20:33.160
And like college-bound parents, group, blah, blah, blah.

00:20:33.840 --> 00:20:37.440
Students, if you're listening, Facebook is old people internet.

00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:38.560
I didn't know if you knew that.

00:20:38.940 --> 00:20:42.900
Yes, yes. I'll never forget my girlfriend Jenny saying, oh, there's this new

00:20:42.900 --> 00:20:46.600
thing called Instagram. And I was like, Instagram, what's this? What do we need this for?

00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:50.180
And she was like, it's like Facebook without the drama.

00:20:50.560 --> 00:20:54.760
Oh. And that was like her exact description. Now this was like,

00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:58.900
you know, a really, and now I'm thinking we don't need many of them,

00:20:58.980 --> 00:21:00.500
but we all have many of them.

00:21:00.760 --> 00:21:05.020
And I do, and it is true of Instagram. Like there is a lot less people kind

00:21:05.020 --> 00:21:09.800
of are, like it's a little bit easier to creep, I think, and not get so involved

00:21:09.800 --> 00:21:12.700
with the talk back and forth and back and forth.

00:21:12.700 --> 00:21:16.720
But what I did find very useful, and believe me, I'm in some groups on Facebook

00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:17.780
that helped me immensely.

00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:21.740
I was in a mom's group on Facebook for a very long time that I could ask basically

00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:26.180
anything and get, like, wonderful feedback in, you know, immediately of,

00:21:26.220 --> 00:21:28.240
like, what I should do and how I should handle something.

00:21:28.600 --> 00:21:36.680
And I am in a group for a support group for families of people who have a family

00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:41.280
member that is suffering from parasypnuclear palsy, which is what my mom has.

00:21:41.280 --> 00:21:43.800
And so those types of groups help me.

00:21:44.323 --> 00:21:47.783
I can't I can't say enough positive things about that.

00:21:47.923 --> 00:21:54.303
But for this, it was, geez, we're really dumping a lot on the guidance counselors.

00:21:54.423 --> 00:21:59.823
And I just don't know if it's a reasonable expectation that one person is going

00:21:59.823 --> 00:22:03.863
to be able to guide 250 kids in the college process.

00:22:04.643 --> 00:22:11.223
Well, no, that's that's. While doing all their while doing their job for all

00:22:11.223 --> 00:22:14.743
the other grades and students that they have while doing all the scheduling,

00:22:14.743 --> 00:22:16.583
while helping someone who's, you know,

00:22:16.663 --> 00:22:18.943
boyfriend broke up with them and is going through a terrible traumatic,

00:22:18.983 --> 00:22:25.543
you know, like you're constantly doing other things besides just guiding those kids for college.

00:22:25.543 --> 00:22:31.503
It just seems like it's another example of, in education, I think,

00:22:31.623 --> 00:22:35.023
like a very unreasonable expectations for one person.

00:22:35.203 --> 00:22:39.463
It's, you know, it mirrors teaching in that way. Oh, yeah. Because we have so

00:22:39.463 --> 00:22:44.403
many unreasonable expectations of how many questions you can answer and how many things you can do.

00:22:44.543 --> 00:22:47.903
And, oh, just take this, hurry up, do this affirmative action.

00:22:48.063 --> 00:22:51.563
And then real quick, just take this one and then get ready for a PD half day.

00:22:51.563 --> 00:22:55.223
But then make sure you have a test, but your test can't be on a Google form

00:22:55.223 --> 00:22:58.103
because we want you to have it on paper and make sure everyone's standing up more.

00:22:58.263 --> 00:23:01.323
And it's right.

00:23:01.543 --> 00:23:06.823
So I do feel like solidarity with the guidance counselors of like, what?

00:23:07.423 --> 00:23:13.903
Well, we go, we go back to Jen Foldberry, who was on with us that before she

00:23:13.903 --> 00:23:16.923
was working for educational connections, she was working in a school and her

00:23:16.923 --> 00:23:19.883
job was to navigate that.

00:23:19.883 --> 00:23:26.523
Just do the college navigation application, college counseling type of stuff.

00:23:26.683 --> 00:23:33.783
That's where it needs to go because those kids, especially at a certain point,

00:23:33.923 --> 00:23:35.983
need more career counseling than they do...

00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:40.920
What class to take and when.

00:23:41.300 --> 00:23:47.040
But you're right. At the same time, the landscape is constantly changing in

00:23:47.040 --> 00:23:51.680
regards to what's expected of the students when they're applying and what the

00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:55.120
standards are that they're looking for, so on and so forth. Okay?

00:23:55.620 --> 00:23:59.160
Yeah. So there's just this, you're

00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:03.380
right. There's an unreasonable set of expectations across the board for.

00:24:05.190 --> 00:24:09.470
We can go from the top down, right? From principals to guidance counselors to

00:24:09.470 --> 00:24:13.070
substance abuse counselors to child study team members.

00:24:13.990 --> 00:24:17.930
We're constantly, especially in education, it's like, let's cut a position,

00:24:18.010 --> 00:24:23.270
let's cut a position, let's cut a position, and let's absorb their job into someone else.

00:24:23.590 --> 00:24:29.170
And then that just dilutes and waters down everything. But then there's no necessary

00:24:29.170 --> 00:24:34.550
go-to person for any particular important aspect, especially this.

00:24:34.650 --> 00:24:38.570
Now, we're also, it's very, I don't want to say it's niche for us because a

00:24:38.570 --> 00:24:39.890
lot of kids wind up going to college.

00:24:40.050 --> 00:24:43.210
But this is the time period that they go through that, right?

00:24:43.630 --> 00:24:48.630
Yes, they go through middle school and early years of high school where they're

00:24:48.630 --> 00:24:52.970
talking about college track and college career readiness. and the things that

00:24:52.970 --> 00:24:55.990
they're going to need when they get into college and when they graduate and

00:24:55.990 --> 00:24:56.730
things like that, right?

00:24:56.930 --> 00:25:03.250
So, but it's when they're juniors and seniors that a lot of the important stuff

00:25:03.250 --> 00:25:05.130
starts to happen, right?

00:25:05.610 --> 00:25:10.450
So we're living in that now. And that's where I think those guidance counselors

00:25:10.450 --> 00:25:16.170
could use somebody or districts could use someone that this is their job to

00:25:16.170 --> 00:25:19.770
focus on these specific things, especially because those are the numbers that,

00:25:20.570 --> 00:25:22.990
for the most part, school districts like to hang their hat on,

00:25:23.190 --> 00:25:25.190
right? Oh, we had this many kids go to this college.

00:25:25.310 --> 00:25:27.490
We had this many kids go to trade schools, which is amazing.

00:25:28.010 --> 00:25:29.790
We had this many kids going to the military.

00:25:31.330 --> 00:25:36.390
Absolutely. The most honorable profession one could do is in service of one's country.

00:25:36.530 --> 00:25:40.890
Those are things that we should be championing and hanging our hat on.

00:25:41.010 --> 00:25:44.630
But I think somebody needs to be there for these kids because a lot of parents,

00:25:44.630 --> 00:25:48.730
we have it, right? Like we're trying to navigate. You're joining a Facebook group.

00:25:48.890 --> 00:25:52.850
We're talking to, you know, this person, that counselor. My wife works at college.

00:25:53.070 --> 00:25:56.190
Like we're talking to people to help us with navigating all these things.

00:25:56.350 --> 00:25:58.490
But like there are kids that don't have an us.

00:25:59.672 --> 00:26:02.752
They're literally kids that are doing this themselves.

00:26:02.952 --> 00:26:05.312
They might be first-generation college students. They might be,

00:26:05.312 --> 00:26:09.572
you know, kids that are trying to navigate this landscape all on their own,

00:26:09.592 --> 00:26:12.572
which is a huge detriment.

00:26:12.592 --> 00:26:16.392
They don't have the extra stepping stones that certain kids do.

00:26:16.952 --> 00:26:20.872
Yeah. And my other question is, how do you pay for it?

00:26:22.572 --> 00:26:26.312
What do you mean? How do you pay for it? How will we pay for it?

00:26:26.692 --> 00:26:32.892
College or? Yeah. So my other issue is, in part of these groups as well,

00:26:33.232 --> 00:26:35.272
is, well, my child applied.

00:26:35.332 --> 00:26:37.432
My child got into their dream school.

00:26:37.672 --> 00:26:41.012
My child's dream school is $85,000 a year.

00:26:42.595 --> 00:26:45.835
And now I have to tell them they can't afford to go there.

00:26:46.015 --> 00:26:50.855
See, I have mixed feelings about that. Right. Why'd you let it go so far?

00:26:51.395 --> 00:26:55.795
There you go. I mean, there's got to be a realistic conversation about, hey.

00:26:56.295 --> 00:26:58.935
And we've had these conversations with our kids. We've said like,

00:26:58.995 --> 00:27:01.135
hey, it's great that you might be interested in this school.

00:27:01.535 --> 00:27:10.295
But we don't have $80,000 a year live this far out of state airplane money for

00:27:10.295 --> 00:27:13.595
you to fly back and forth to come out. Like, like we don't, we don't have it.

00:27:13.935 --> 00:27:18.715
Like we, we are trying to modestly prepare our children for college.

00:27:18.915 --> 00:27:22.675
We are trying to do things like, you know, save and invest and things like that.

00:27:22.895 --> 00:27:27.475
And, you know, they've, uh, you know, see what scholarships they get,

00:27:27.595 --> 00:27:30.155
see what merit scholarships they get, um,

00:27:30.935 --> 00:27:35.575
what opportunities might be available to them in regards to loans for things

00:27:35.575 --> 00:27:38.555
that they're, what might pay for. So where do you look for that?

00:27:39.935 --> 00:27:42.755
Where do you look for what? How do you know? All right.

00:27:42.895 --> 00:27:48.475
So like the merit scholarships, that all comes when they get their offers, right?

00:27:48.755 --> 00:27:49.715
Yeah, you're accepting. From

00:27:49.715 --> 00:27:52.595
most schools, right? Some schools wait a little bit and send it later.

00:27:53.075 --> 00:27:57.415
Okay. So now you're looking at in New Jersey, I would say like a pretty reasonable

00:27:57.415 --> 00:28:00.995
school, even if they throw a little bit of money at them.

00:28:01.095 --> 00:28:04.695
Let's say you're looking at $30,000 a year. Yes.

00:28:05.395 --> 00:28:10.935
Okay. What do they do to get $30,000 to pay? Well, we, you know,

00:28:11.055 --> 00:28:14.355
we've been saving for a while, right?

00:28:15.175 --> 00:28:17.675
I don't just mean your kids. I'm saying like, theoretically,

00:28:18.015 --> 00:28:22.395
what does one do if they don't have any savings?

00:28:24.762 --> 00:28:29.442
Well, I don't know. Because that would be $120,000 that someone has saved for you.

00:28:31.042 --> 00:28:37.022
Yeah, which we have not saved that. We have not. Yeah. So what do you think,

00:28:37.142 --> 00:28:38.822
like, where do people go? What do they do?

00:28:39.162 --> 00:28:42.542
So I know that there's opportunities for students, for example,

00:28:42.562 --> 00:28:47.522
if they get a job in a career where they're working in the public sector after

00:28:47.522 --> 00:28:50.322
a period of 10 years, there's loan forgiveness. Right.

00:28:50.802 --> 00:28:54.462
So they, after graduation. There's a cap now on how much money they can borrow.

00:28:54.762 --> 00:28:57.202
There is a cap on how much money they can borrow. Yes.

00:28:57.562 --> 00:29:02.842
And I do not know right now what that cap is, which is another question that we have to find out.

00:29:04.122 --> 00:29:09.062
All the more reason why we have finance people that we ask these questions of.

00:29:09.202 --> 00:29:14.022
For us, our school district has financial groups that come in that we talk to,

00:29:14.262 --> 00:29:16.122
and that's what we're going to wind up doing.

00:29:16.302 --> 00:29:21.202
So we can have those conversations about what's the best option for our children.

00:29:21.202 --> 00:29:26.822
But I don't know what kids do who don't have those resources available to them. Yeah.

00:29:27.062 --> 00:29:30.002
I know the federal loan is capped now at $5,500.

00:29:31.042 --> 00:29:34.802
And I believe it's something that needs to be paid back at the end of each year.

00:29:35.602 --> 00:29:38.682
And now there, you know, there are different plans in place for,

00:29:38.682 --> 00:29:42.102
for kids to be able to take some loans in their own names.

00:29:42.622 --> 00:29:48.522
And, and then parents would have to co-sign on those loans as well. You know, so it's,

00:29:49.311 --> 00:29:55.411
It's just a process of, I think, annoyance and anguish in some ways.

00:29:55.551 --> 00:30:03.031
We were just talking with our senior and, you know, my husband says,

00:30:03.331 --> 00:30:08.031
look, like, you know, this was part of he was he was getting annoyed as like,

00:30:08.091 --> 00:30:09.611
you know, a 17 year old would get annoyed.

00:30:09.971 --> 00:30:16.631
And I was getting annoyed and my husband was getting annoyed and everyone was annoyed.

00:30:16.631 --> 00:30:26.291
We weren't we weren't annoyed with each other i think we were just more annoyed with the system.

00:30:27.151 --> 00:30:30.491
Because the system right the system says

00:30:30.491 --> 00:30:36.891
like here you are mom and dad who work hard every day and have been doing you

00:30:36.891 --> 00:30:42.031
know what you're quote unquote supposed to be doing and you're trying your best

00:30:42.031 --> 00:30:47.791
for your kids and you're both teachers and you should have more money,

00:30:47.791 --> 00:30:50.931
but you don't because you live in a really expensive state.

00:30:51.211 --> 00:30:58.511
And now you want your child to go to school and they've also been working and

00:30:58.511 --> 00:31:03.431
working and working and doing everything that they were also told that they were supposed to do.

00:31:04.151 --> 00:31:11.751
And there's not $30,000 a year to go to a reasonable school.

00:31:15.311 --> 00:31:18.931
What do you do? Right? So like, what, what, what are we doing?

00:31:19.151 --> 00:31:22.471
And I think that a lot of people are like, yeah, they just have to,

00:31:22.591 --> 00:31:24.131
they just have to take a loan.

00:31:25.752 --> 00:31:31.912
I'm having a very difficult time with that.

00:31:33.412 --> 00:31:36.972
And can I ask why? I didn't do it.

00:31:38.052 --> 00:31:41.612
It was a different time for us. I didn't do it either. Yeah.

00:31:41.812 --> 00:31:45.332
But why do we have to accept it was a different time?

00:31:45.612 --> 00:31:49.472
I feel like these are just some things that, these are the lies that people tell us.

00:31:49.552 --> 00:31:52.272
And it's like, why are we all collectively buying into this?

00:31:52.692 --> 00:31:54.272
Why has it gotten so expensive?

00:31:54.792 --> 00:31:58.752
Why is it like just, oh, that's just how it has to be? Why?

00:31:59.132 --> 00:32:04.212
It has gotten astronomically more expensive and not as affordable as even when

00:32:04.212 --> 00:32:06.992
we went, when it kind of started.

00:32:07.512 --> 00:32:12.932
And we didn't have, like the college, like, again, I went to TCNJ.

00:32:13.272 --> 00:32:16.792
Wait, how did you pay to go to TCNJ and live there?

00:32:17.332 --> 00:32:21.832
Well, I think the first thing that helped me being able to...

00:32:25.592 --> 00:32:31.092
Being able to go there and handle the tuition was the fact that I went to community

00:32:31.092 --> 00:32:35.812
college first and got my prerequisites done, a vast majority of them,

00:32:35.992 --> 00:32:39.072
before I transferred into the school that I wanted to go to.

00:32:39.632 --> 00:32:45.652
Because community college at the time, it still is, decidedly more affordable

00:32:45.652 --> 00:32:47.452
if you're undecided, right?

00:32:48.212 --> 00:32:51.672
And it's not that I was undecided, but I've talked about my journey before.

00:32:51.972 --> 00:32:54.012
And it was just something that I decided to do.

00:32:54.992 --> 00:32:59.012
And I went and I took those the prerequisite classes. But let's say you hadn't

00:32:59.012 --> 00:33:00.752
because you were at you were at West Virginia.

00:33:01.232 --> 00:33:04.832
Did your parents have because my parents did not have money for me to go and

00:33:04.832 --> 00:33:06.472
live away at school, which is why I did not.

00:33:06.652 --> 00:33:10.492
So I'm just so it wasn't a different time like in my house. I'm just curious, like,

00:33:10.892 --> 00:33:13.912
did did your parents have like whatever it was going to I mean,

00:33:14.232 --> 00:33:18.712
I want to say like a few of the schools, it's like, oh, room and board and fees

00:33:18.712 --> 00:33:22.952
and books is about $19,000 a year. Mm-hmm.

00:33:24.924 --> 00:33:32.824
So like to live in like a concrete room and eat and have books and taxes and fees, it's $19,000.

00:33:33.564 --> 00:33:40.824
Yeah. And I'm going to pay $8,000 for your tuition, but it's $19,000.

00:33:42.684 --> 00:33:50.424
What? I know that I am not the only person who like has looked at this and thought like, huh?

00:33:50.424 --> 00:33:55.344
But why is it that like there is this idea that like you're robbing your child

00:33:55.344 --> 00:33:59.764
of like some wonderful glorious thing that's going to happen like they're not

00:33:59.764 --> 00:34:04.304
going to be whole if they can't go and do that even if it costs them eighty

00:34:04.304 --> 00:34:09.424
thousand dollars in a loan to do it i i'm.

00:34:11.904 --> 00:34:15.384
How do i how do i say i'm just trying to think about what i'm wanting

00:34:15.384 --> 00:34:18.264
to say as i'm trying to put my thoughts together yeah and i'm not saying this

00:34:18.264 --> 00:34:21.084
to you right i'm saying this like out in

00:34:21.084 --> 00:34:24.004
the world of like there's plenty of people

00:34:24.004 --> 00:34:29.484
that are in this situation well we go back we go back to your original scenario

00:34:29.484 --> 00:34:32.664
right it's like oh they got into their dream school eighty thousand dollars

00:34:32.664 --> 00:34:35.804
and now i have to tell them that they can't go and they can't well no but i'm

00:34:35.804 --> 00:34:38.904
saying like the dream school for us is not eighty thousand dollars like the

00:34:38.904 --> 00:34:41.504
dream schools and even just the average like,

00:34:41.704 --> 00:34:45.704
yeah, that seems pretty good school, is $30,000 a year. Yeah.

00:34:46.184 --> 00:34:51.124
I also try to, and what I try to do is weigh the...

00:34:53.030 --> 00:34:56.290
Look at the reputation of the individual schools that they've applied to.

00:34:56.430 --> 00:35:00.290
And it's like, okay, when they graduate from this school with being successful

00:35:00.290 --> 00:35:03.730
and having, you know, which is not a guarantee, but, you know,

00:35:03.810 --> 00:35:09.610
my kids are putting in the work and working hard and getting their, you know, graduating.

00:35:10.730 --> 00:35:14.450
When they have their diploma from that school, when they go on the job search,

00:35:14.690 --> 00:35:18.410
does it allow them, does it give them an additional foot in the door?

00:35:18.770 --> 00:35:21.530
And in certain cases, some of the schools that they're looking at,

00:35:21.670 --> 00:35:22.790
I think the answer to that is yes.

00:35:23.030 --> 00:35:27.110
Where they look at certain candidates from certain schools more because they

00:35:27.110 --> 00:35:31.930
have a better reputation in regards to their academic program or like the teacher

00:35:31.930 --> 00:35:34.430
preparedness programs that that students come out with.

00:35:34.570 --> 00:35:38.290
Like, um, like for example, Towson is one of the schools that my kids were have

00:35:38.290 --> 00:35:42.310
been looking at and they are the number one teaching college in the state of Maryland.

00:35:42.770 --> 00:35:47.630
Um, you know, if one graduates with a degree there, it normally holds more weight

00:35:47.630 --> 00:35:54.690
because it is a very well known and has a great reputation.

00:35:55.130 --> 00:36:02.750
So is that worth the additional money that one might pay to go to that school

00:36:02.750 --> 00:36:06.970
versus one that is $20,000 versus staying home?

00:36:07.370 --> 00:36:10.410
I don't know. I'm not saying I just don't. I'm having a very,

00:36:10.610 --> 00:36:16.270
very difficult time with I'm remembering how I felt when I was that age.

00:36:16.970 --> 00:36:21.770
And I'm remembering very much how annoyed and aggravated I was.

00:36:22.330 --> 00:36:26.010
And, you know, I... You were annoyed and aggravated because you wanted to go

00:36:26.010 --> 00:36:29.650
away somewhere? I wanted to go away, yeah. I wanted to go and live away.

00:36:30.170 --> 00:36:33.750
Okay. And your parents said no. Well, they said you can do it,

00:36:33.810 --> 00:36:35.390
but you have to take a loan. Yeah.

00:36:35.850 --> 00:36:44.290
And I chose not to. Okay. And that was your choice? I mean, and on the same situation could be.

00:36:45.999 --> 00:36:49.979
Uh, available to your son. Hey, you can do that. I know, but I didn't.

00:36:50.099 --> 00:36:54.139
And it, and it was good. So it's hard for me to be like, you should,

00:36:54.379 --> 00:36:56.159
because like, why not? You know?

00:36:56.359 --> 00:37:01.059
And, and also, yeah. So I'm really wrestling with, and we recently had a talk

00:37:01.059 --> 00:37:05.019
with someone who, um, was saying to him, and I thought it was really great.

00:37:05.179 --> 00:37:10.999
Like, this is the, one of the times in your life of the greatest comparison,

00:37:10.999 --> 00:37:17.459
everyone is going to be looking at each other and trying to hold themselves

00:37:17.459 --> 00:37:20.379
up to what they think is the standard.

00:37:20.499 --> 00:37:28.039
And that is something you are going to have to deal with very seriously over the next few months.

00:37:28.219 --> 00:37:32.999
And as best as you possibly can, stay out of that.

00:37:33.799 --> 00:37:41.419
Yeah. And it there could be no truer advice. I mean, really pure and correct

00:37:41.419 --> 00:37:44.259
and yet seemingly impossible.

00:37:44.599 --> 00:37:50.499
Well, and this is, I think, how we have to how we have to navigate and balance this as parents, right?

00:37:50.659 --> 00:37:53.639
Like having these having these conversations is very important.

00:37:54.839 --> 00:38:00.099
Talking to other parents that you feel have similar views as you would also

00:38:00.099 --> 00:38:02.699
be a good avenue to go on. Um.

00:38:04.004 --> 00:38:07.744
Joining groups, like you said, on Facebook to hear what other people are saying,

00:38:08.044 --> 00:38:11.264
which you have to take with a little grain of salt, right?

00:38:11.364 --> 00:38:13.924
Of course. Because you never know who's on the opposite side of the keyboard.

00:38:14.244 --> 00:38:17.084
It's always a little wacky, but a lot of it is good stuff, yeah.

00:38:17.324 --> 00:38:22.164
Yeah, and that may be the most difficult thing that you and I right now are,

00:38:22.784 --> 00:38:27.284
like you just said, like, oh, kids are going to be comparing themselves to one another.

00:38:27.664 --> 00:38:30.724
We're going to do it as parents, and we need to stay out of that,

00:38:31.064 --> 00:38:33.824
right? Like, I'm not comparing my child to yours.

00:38:35.104 --> 00:38:38.944
Wherever your child goes is, and what I've said to my own children is,

00:38:39.124 --> 00:38:44.284
that is going to be the environment for them where they're going to be the most successful.

00:38:44.464 --> 00:38:47.944
That's what I want for them. Right? I want them to choose a place that's going

00:38:47.944 --> 00:38:49.724
to be the most successful for them.

00:38:50.184 --> 00:38:52.464
Right. That's the most important thing. Yeah.

00:38:52.964 --> 00:38:56.544
So, and as parents, it might be difficult for us to stay out of that.

00:38:57.744 --> 00:39:01.704
I also think that as we— I can't stay out of it. Yeah.

00:39:02.404 --> 00:39:06.564
I can't stay out of it because it's, you know, you're asking someone who is

00:39:06.564 --> 00:39:11.244
like whose brain is still developing to make a decision of whether or not $100,000

00:39:11.244 --> 00:39:14.964
worth of debt is like that big of a deal or not, because like they're going

00:39:14.964 --> 00:39:16.164
to be most happy somewhere.

00:39:16.424 --> 00:39:21.184
So like that's what I go back and forth with. I'm like, I feel like five minutes

00:39:21.184 --> 00:39:24.744
ago I was still like teaching you how to tie your shoes, but like it's cool,

00:39:24.984 --> 00:39:27.044
you know, because you're not.

00:39:28.742 --> 00:39:34.902
You can't fathom how long it would take you to dig out of that type of debt.

00:39:35.342 --> 00:39:38.502
Yeah. You know, and then it's also like, God, I feel crappy because like,

00:39:38.582 --> 00:39:40.242
why don't I have more to give you?

00:39:41.482 --> 00:39:48.102
You know, so it's like this endless cycle of feeling like just should I have

00:39:48.102 --> 00:39:50.282
had, how come I don't have more to give you?

00:39:50.522 --> 00:39:57.902
I wish that I did, but also I don't. But also you're far better off than like so many other people.

00:39:57.902 --> 00:40:02.002
You know, so then it's like, we are grateful and we are, you know,

00:40:02.522 --> 00:40:06.722
really so thankful for all the things that we do have and all the blessings that we have, you know.

00:40:06.822 --> 00:40:11.722
So it's like you're kind of stuck in this really strange, you know,

00:40:11.922 --> 00:40:15.962
place to be in, in this little mid-year checkup that we're doing.

00:40:16.362 --> 00:40:22.762
And as we record this, none of our children have decided where they're going. No.

00:40:23.182 --> 00:40:26.162
They've heard from the vast majority of the schools that they've applied to

00:40:26.162 --> 00:40:28.262
and now they're trying to figure it out. Yeah.

00:40:28.762 --> 00:40:32.782
The best we've got right now is like narrowing it down to your top three.

00:40:33.792 --> 00:40:39.252
Yes. And then reading through, you know, what what they have to offer is which

00:40:39.252 --> 00:40:43.072
one is the strongest for the program that you're, you know, choosing to do.

00:40:43.712 --> 00:40:46.432
And, you know, and then, of course, the other part part is, too,

00:40:46.492 --> 00:40:53.472
is that now so many jobs require a master's or sometimes a doctorate,

00:40:53.552 --> 00:40:56.312
depending on what it is, you know, so then it's also weighing,

00:40:56.552 --> 00:41:01.492
you know, how does that set you up for year five or six, depending on,

00:41:01.632 --> 00:41:03.372
you know, what the program might be, you know.

00:41:04.692 --> 00:41:07.452
And that's for so many people. I mean, even education, there were like all those

00:41:07.452 --> 00:41:11.572
people that came out of Rutgers with a five-year degree and I only had a four-year degree.

00:41:11.692 --> 00:41:15.432
You know, there were so many different, there's lots of that still happening, you know?

00:41:15.952 --> 00:41:19.592
I don't think that gives them a leg up into the classroom.

00:41:19.992 --> 00:41:25.112
I don't. I just that's just me. Right. Like, I think it's great that they have a master's degree.

00:41:25.312 --> 00:41:30.532
But I think from a fiscal responsibility, like, yeah, it's great that your teachers have advanced degrees.

00:41:30.532 --> 00:41:34.092
But when a school district tires you, they're paying for that.

00:41:34.092 --> 00:41:38.412
Like you're, you're, you're like over the life of your career,

00:41:38.412 --> 00:41:43.272
you'll make more money because you have that advanced degree versus someone who doesn't.

00:41:43.412 --> 00:41:48.652
But the school district is also on the hook more. Do they really want to put that, uh,

00:41:49.466 --> 00:41:52.526
into you. And I, I, you know, that's what I experienced when,

00:41:52.666 --> 00:41:57.106
when my wife and I, when my wife and I moved to Pennsylvania for a little while,

00:41:57.106 --> 00:42:00.286
and I was looking at districts in Pennsylvania to try and find a job.

00:42:00.286 --> 00:42:05.446
It's like, you could hire me who has 11, 12 years experience and you have to

00:42:05.446 --> 00:42:07.846
pay me based on that pay scale.

00:42:07.966 --> 00:42:12.506
Or you can hire, you know, Joe who just, Joe from Oklahoma.

00:42:12.966 --> 00:42:16.846
22 year old Joe, right? Yeah. Who just graduated from college and pay him on the base scale.

00:42:17.906 --> 00:42:20.726
Also I'm teaching a subject that's not a tested area now if

00:42:20.726 --> 00:42:24.226
I were teaching math you might want me because it's a

00:42:24.226 --> 00:42:27.026
different story so and I don't

00:42:27.026 --> 00:42:29.866
know what the best what the best route what the

00:42:29.866 --> 00:42:33.346
best avenue is I have my opinions on you

00:42:33.346 --> 00:42:36.126
know the kids schools that they've looked at I don't have anything negative to say

00:42:36.126 --> 00:42:39.066
about any of them I just know that if they're looking for

00:42:39.066 --> 00:42:41.906
something particular in a certain school I know where

00:42:41.906 --> 00:42:44.626
they would find that and where they wouldn't I don't want them to be

00:42:44.626 --> 00:42:47.846
unhappy but i also want them to know like if they

00:42:47.846 --> 00:42:50.666
get to a point where they're there for a year and it's not for

00:42:50.666 --> 00:42:53.606
them they can leave i want

00:42:53.606 --> 00:42:57.206
them to know that they can leave and i think that that's something that's

00:42:57.206 --> 00:42:59.926
important for all of them to know i don't know

00:42:59.926 --> 00:43:03.486
if like if you're going to have the same conversation with your son but it would

00:43:03.486 --> 00:43:06.906
be like oh we have we have oh yeah you go there for you go there for a year

00:43:06.906 --> 00:43:09.546
and you get to the end of it and my daughter's gotten hung up on that like oh

00:43:09.546 --> 00:43:14.206
i gotta start and i'm like i was like and like we're like So you're literally

00:43:14.206 --> 00:43:19.206
sitting in a room with two adults who did not finish where they started.

00:43:19.486 --> 00:43:22.686
Right. Like we didn't finish where my wife didn't finish where she started.

00:43:22.866 --> 00:43:23.866
I didn't finish where I started.

00:43:24.086 --> 00:43:27.826
And it wasn't because like we failed out. It's just like things change things.

00:43:28.146 --> 00:43:31.406
You know, you're going to see that you are going to see that you're going to

00:43:31.406 --> 00:43:33.806
have your graduating class. You're going to have people that are going to go somewhere.

00:43:34.026 --> 00:43:37.706
And then all of a sudden it's going to be like, ah, this is not the right fit for me.

00:43:38.006 --> 00:43:42.866
Just because you think it is now doesn't mean it's going to be the right fit for you. um.

00:43:43.849 --> 00:43:47.829
Four years from now. Four years. Or maybe it is. Yeah. So.

00:43:48.209 --> 00:43:54.229
Well, I guess the fact that we are worrying about any of this just shows how

00:43:54.229 --> 00:43:58.689
hard we try as parents and, you know, the concern and the love that we have.

00:43:59.989 --> 00:44:03.709
And one thing, you know, as much as we worry, one thing we don't have to worry

00:44:03.709 --> 00:44:06.269
about is our season three sponsor.

00:44:07.809 --> 00:44:11.969
Yeah. Our season three sponsor, Teacher's Insurance Plan. Teacher's Insurance

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Like, I mean, I'm an amateur.

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00:44:23.869 --> 00:44:28.769
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That is great. I will need you to autograph my teacher's insurance plan polo.

00:44:48.349 --> 00:44:53.329
And your lunch bag? And my lunch bag. You'll have to autograph my lunch bag for sure.

00:44:54.189 --> 00:44:59.229
But yeah, we'll continue to update everybody on what's going on with this.

00:44:59.349 --> 00:45:01.489
That's the biggest journey that we're on right now.

00:45:01.629 --> 00:45:05.189
It is all consuming in a lot of ways, I'll be honest.

00:45:05.629 --> 00:45:09.109
Yes, and next up scholarship season. So woohoo! Yay!

00:45:09.569 --> 00:45:14.269
It's never going to end. But yeah, we'll see everybody next time where we probably

00:45:14.269 --> 00:45:17.789
still will be talking about this on the Balancing Act podcast. Bye.

00:45:21.129 --> 00:45:22.709
Look for the Balancing Act podcast.