Conversation 1

I was talking to a parent interested in bringing her child to our school. But he also wanted a chance to play sports at a big high school and because BC School Sports has treated our tiny program unfairly, he can’t play with them if he joins our program, which is too small to field a team.

His mom really wants him to come to our school, but doesn’t want him to lose out on playing sports in his catchment school. I reminded her that the big high school he wants to go to is an excellent school, and that he is going to get a good education at whichever school he chooses.

I said, I know that this is a tough decision to make, but it’s a good decision either way.

Conversation 2

A student I had previously spoken to had mentioned that he wanted to go to a school that’s out of the Vancouver Lower Mainland, and that if he did, he was going to live in residence. I told him that my experience with living in residence was really wonderful and that I’d recommend it.

A few days later he came back to me and said that he thought about it more and financially it didn’t make sense for him to spend most of his school budget on his first year just so he could go away and live in residence.

So, I told him that while my wife and I both loved the experience, and recommended it to our oldest daughter, she enjoyed residence living the least of any of her 4 years at school. And, my youngest daughter chose a school where she commuted from home and enjoyed her first year quite a bit.

I explained that while it’s a good choice to make for many, it’s not for everyone and you can have a great first year with or without living in residence.

Conversation 3

I had a student explain to me that she got into the top two programs she wanted and she couldn’t decide which one she really wanted. She gave me a couple reasons why she wanted both programs and said she really didn’t know which way to go.

Paraphrasing my simple reply, I said, ‘What a great problem to have! I know this isn’t easy, but of all the dilemmas you could be going through, this one is a pretty good one!’

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Sometimes even the good decisions are hard to make. It’s important to keep this in perspective and not stress as much as when the decision is more challenging and stress inducing.

The other advice I often give in all three of these conversations is that once you make the decision, jump in with both feet! When you finally decide, be firm with your decision, and don’t look back. Instead, think and believe that you made the right decision, at the right time… and give that choice 100% of your effort. Remember that you had a hard, but good decision to make, and whatever choice you made was right for you!