College Parents of America operates with a premise that every student wants to succeed. We also believe that part of your role as a parent is to help your student to succeed frequently as the school year begins, and to aid him or her in attaining a higher level of performance throughout the academic year.
For students who are serious about success, there are 10 factors that come into play. Each factor is interdependent and is directly related to the positive outcomes that students seek. The most successful students constantly work to improve and strengthen all of these factors, so that they work in concert to improve performance.
The 10 factors that can propel students to greater success are:
- Developing clear goals and capturing them in writing;
- Creating a plan to meet those goals with specific steps, clear priorities and a timetable;
- Building a network of people to provide on-the-ground support;
- Gaining the knowledge necessary to provide a foundation in a field of interest;
- Leveraging that knowledge to begin to develop a set of skills;
- Showing determination to overcome obstacles;
- Moving beyond a comfort zone and beginning to learn the value of taking risks;
- Displaying a positive mindset that creates inner confidence and external momentum;
- Gathering resources, such as study tools, and assembling them for wise use; and
- Making good choices when presented with key decisions.
College Parents of America believes that every college student can be successful, but that the most successful students should recognize, understand and utilize the factors described above to improve their chances.
Your role is to encourage your student to understand and work on these critical factors of success. However, you must remember that you can’t force your children to be successful. They have to do the heavy lifting themselves; you can’t do it for them.
As you make your student aware of the factors for success, you should encourage him or her to constantly strive to improve, but resist the urge to badger if progress is not as fast as you would like. If you offer positive reinforcement, and unconditional love, then progress will surely come, and you will have much to celebrate.
