Category: Student Focus

These blog posts are focused on empowering students.

What is College Readiness Anyway?

By Jane Taylor | October 7, 2021 | Executive Function,Student Focus

The term college readiness often tops Google trends just as rising high school seniors contemplate their next step. Most of us understand the general concept of preparedness for post-secondary education, but what does college readiness really mean?

In the academic world, college readiness is largely measured by coursework, GPA, ACT and SAT scores, but beyond the numbers, a college-ready student must have the knowledge, life skills, work habits, maturity, and independence necessary to succeed at school and in life after college.

Using Disruption to Create Positive Change

By Jane Taylor | August 11, 2020 | Coaching and Support,Student Focus

Pattern disruption has long been a recognized method for creating positive change. The Socrates character in Dan Millman’s Way of the Peaceful Warrior puts it this way: “You have many habits that weaken you. The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”[1]

As humans, we are all creatures of habit – we drink coffee in the mornings,

Building Resilience: How do we do it?

By Jane Taylor | July 27, 2020 | Coaching and Support,Student Focus

Resilience is the ability to adapt and thrive despite adversity. We all need it. The pandemic has been a global demonstration of our need for resilience. Those businesses and organizations that have adapted to the unprecedented difficulties we all face are more likely to survive those difficulties; some of them will even thrive. On a smaller, more personal scale, the cultivation and development of resilience is one of the primary predictors of college success.

According to psychologist,

On-Boarding for Student and Parent Comfortability

By Jane Taylor | June 25, 2020 | Coaching and Support,Student Focus

Comfortability starts with strong relationships. We foster them not just with our students, but with their families. From the moment a student signs up, they become part of our family. Read More...

College Life in the Viral Age: Updates from Campus

By Jane Taylor | March 26, 2020 | Coaching and Support,Student Focus

Dear Community,
We hope that you are well and adjusting to this viral reality. Here is an update on college life as we see it.

Student Life

The most important work we’re doing right now is connecting with students who feel lost. We’re talking to more students much more often. With all the demand we’re experiencing, we have decided to open up our services to students across the country,

What Now?

By Jane Taylor | March 16, 2020 | Coaching and Support,Parent Focus,Student Focus

Colleges in Boston and around the United States suddenly shuttered, leaving every student in our community and everywhere else asking, ‘What Now?’

Student Needs
Such a disruptive and radical routine change has left many students grappling with uncertainty and feeling ungrounded. In addition, almost every university is requiring students to complete the balance of their semester on a remote platform. Focus Collegiate is in a unique position to help ease this transition.

» Read more about: What Now? »

Experimentation, Practicing, and the Learning Agenda

By Jane Taylor | January 22, 2020 | Student Focus

An integral part of the learning process is the opportunity to test our nascent theories about ourselves as they develop. Experimenting with new ideas and new behaviors and getting good feedback from the world is how we calibrate our progress toward intentional positive change.

In our evidence-based work with college students, we emphasize experiential learning informed by Intentional Change Theory, established and developed by Richard Boyatzis, Professor of Organizational Behavior,

Who Am I really? Good Self-Assessment Skills are at the Heart of Positive Change

By Jane Taylor | January 14, 2020 | Student Focus

“Who are you?” said the Caterpillar.
This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, “I—I hardly know, Sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”
“What do you mean by that?” said the Caterpillar, sternly. “Explain yourself!”
“I ca’n’t explain myself, I’m afraid, Sir,” said Alice,

How to Create a Personal Vision: Small Steps; Big Rewards

By Jane Taylor | January 8, 2020 | Student Focus

By now some of us have already broken our New Year’s resolutions. Like goals, New Year’s resolutions can generate feelings of obligation, i.e. “I ought to eat better,” and “I ought to exercise more.” Obligation creates stress. A personal vision, on the other hand, creates hope and activates parts of the brain involved in reasoning and creativity. Hope fueled by self-advocacy “means that we not only imagine that good things are about to happen, but we also believe in our ability to achieve them.”[1]

The concept of the personal vision is certainly inspiring,

The Power of a Personal Vision and Why New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work

By Jane Taylor | December 10, 2019 | Emotional Regulation,Student Focus

It’s that time of year when the airwaves and the ether are filled with good intentions for behavior in the season and in the new year. As the holidays loom, we strive to be our best and make plans for positive change. We promise ourselves more exercise, greater patience with loved ones, fewer cookies, more vegetables…The New Year’s Resolution is our opportunity to make amends.