1st Book Q & A
For Myself For Readers For Everyone
Why do I want a book?
I want to make a lasting contribution that enhances the impact of my career and, to an extent, the purpose of my life.
I believe it will create new opportunities, on a significantly larger scale, to apply my passion and ability as an educator.
What do I want my book to do for me?
As much as I've loved tutoring, it has been a relatively isolating career. With this book and its potential influence, I hope to let my inward reflections out and collaborate with others. As a voice attempting to transform the outlook on adolescent education, I don’t expect to stand alone. I expect to be supported as well as challenged, and I welcome it all.
How do I want a book to elevate my work in the world?
I hope to gradually inspire a movement; accordingly, I intend to be an integral part of many communal efforts. These efforts can provoke large-scale change by highlighting the value of every adolescent they reach.
What do I want my book to do for my reader?
I want this book to give substance and meaning to a potential void that’s otherwise nameless for the reader. In place of common rebellion, I plan to spur student visualizations of personal transformation and unprecedented paths to sustained success. I also hope to renew many adults’ confidence to connect with these students in times of need.
What do I want my readers to do after they experience my book?
Initially I'd like them to reflect on how these ideas relate… For Students: Who or what in your life can best support a REAL School mindset, and to what extent is that presence currently active? For Parents or Teachers: In what ways are current goals or expectations of adolescents not yet aligned with their actual preparation for life beyond high school?
What realistic measures can be taken over the next year, month, week, or day to progressively act on these points of reflection? Of these measures, which are internal / self-guided ways to elevate a student's perspective & purpose? And which are external / collaborative tasks that require an evolved common understanding of a specific student's needs.
To create persistent change… I want readers to apply measures that work effectively in tandem with the status quo of today’s school experience. Until many aspects of conventional schooling are formally evolved, it's a call for personal and family accountability to preserve the opportunities sought by inspired students who are eager to fully explore them.
How do I want my book to benefit my readers’ lives?
I want to empower readers to claim ownership of “Tomorrow’s” adolescent education. This demands a concentrated effort from students willing to self-evaluate and prioritize, and likewise from adults willing to connect and empathize. Ultimately it’s about promoting a robust, competent, and secure future workforce that is motivated by sincere purpose. As a result, this could relieve a critical piece of modern society’s crisis with emptiness and dissatisfaction.
Where do you want your book to fall in the greater cultural landscape?
I believe it would settle in naturally as somewhat of a hybrid between adolescent motivation and education reform.
It’s a call for deep reflection and targeted action by all concerned parties to put growth and preparation as the truest standards of teen success. Theoretically this could shake up the overtly competitive culture that currently saturates most formal institutions of proclaimed academic excellence.
To what movements/ideologies does it contribute?
As its own potential movement in the making, REAL School is much in the spirit of “We only get our lives once and we can’t afford to waste them, neither for individuals' sake nor society at large.” Authentic meaning, preparation, and direction all elevate one's quality of life and foster healthy relationships, both professional and personal. This truth is fundamental to the human condition regardless of socioeconomic status and/or cultural differences.
What is your book doing for the world at large?
Ultimately I hope it could lead to transformative upgrades in the foundational structure of formal education nationwide. No one has all of the answers, but I believe this book explores many of the right questions. These are questions that could, and perhaps should, also draw input from those with the highest expertise in educational theory. They, along with a devoted team of psychology and human development experts, could collectively design a properly adaptable system of education. It's a distant dream, but there's real need for a system that optimizes resources and enhances curricula to produce students that are actually ready to move forward in life as they accept their high school diplomas.