Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 386

Do Something Creative That Makes You Happy Every Day

Dear Daughter, I trust you to:

1. Surround yourself with people who are passionate and interesting, who will lift you up, and share with you thoughts, places and experiences that excite and inspire you.

2. Challenge yourself, and take a leap of faith every single day, believing that unless it makes you nervous, uncomfortable and awkward, you will probably not grow. So give that speech, audition for that spot, sign up for that club position, and convince your professor that you would make a g...

What This College President Wants Class of 2021 to Know

Over the last 20 years, I have watched thousands of students take advantage of college — and some who did not. In my experience, now as a college president, your time at college will be defined by a relatively few crucial actions. Let’s call them ten simple things that will make your experience more fun, meaningful and important:

1. Dive into your classes.

Of course, you should do the work and go to all the classes. But I urge you to go further. Be fully engaged by participating in classroom...

What I Want My Little Sister to Know As She Leaves For College

Dear Caroline,
Even though I’m about to be a junior at Baylor University, it feels just like yesterday that I was saying goodbye to you, Elizabeth, Mom and Dad when you dropped me off freshman year. You are so close to having the University of Texas be your new home. Since I am the oldest, all I knew about college was what Mom and Dad had told me. No offense to them, but it has been a long time since they were in college. I mean a long time (sorry, guys).

I want to share with you some of the...

Grief: The One Thing That I Never Prepared My Teens For

I’ve spent most of my parenting life trying to equip my children with the life skills and wisdom in hopes of preparing them to face anything that might come across their path on the journey into adulthood.  From the incessant daily instructions on the importance of good hygiene, lessons on respecting others, instilling in them a strong work ethic, teaching them simple household chores, to how to become their own self-advocates, I tried to stuff everything they might need into their “backpack...

I Cried For the First Time When Leaving Home at Age 22

I’ve never really cried leaving home.

In fact—I always found myself crying on the way home. Be it on the bus back from camp as an eight-year-old, my flight back from Barcelona after my travels abroad or my drive out of Ann Arbor for the last time as a college graduate. In those instances, leaving meant an exciting new adventure, and my journey back meant I was saying goodbye to the friends that I made, the places I grew to love, and all of the happy carefree memories made there. Coming home s...

How to Raise a More Giving Teen

As each new day dawns, we find ourselves seeking ways to better ourselves. We all want to eat healthier, quit smoking (if that’s your thing), recycle more, and stress less. If you’re a teenager like me—or a parent reading this article—then maybe your resolutions also include volunteering more and teaching your child to do the same.

Community service is an important value that can be both meaningful and fun, but instilling its importance and making it second nature to kids can take a little w...

What This RA Would Like All Freshmen Women to Know About Safety

The phone rang at 4:15 a.m. Phones ringing at that time of night (or morning) almost always mean something bad has happened. My husband jumped from the bed grabbing the phone hard when he saw who was calling. He swiftly and nervously answered it, practically shouting to my son, “Michael, what happened?”

[Read Next: My College Son Got So Drunk He Was Taken to the E.R.]

My son is a second year junior at a large university, and has been spending his summer as a resident hall advisor. This means...

“I” is for Induction Day

His hair had never been shaggier than it was that morning. His clothes were rumpled, and his eyes looked so tired. Of course, waking up at 4:00 AM will do that to an 18-year-old. As Evan would tell you, he didn’t have to wake up quite that early. It was me who insisted, setting multiple alarms to make sure the whole family was up and at ‘em well before dawn. After all, it was a two-hour drive from our home to his institute of higher learning, and who knew what kind of traffic we would hit?

A...

Dorm Shopping List: THIS is Why it’s Such a Big Deal

There are few things that feel as satisfying to me as a good organizational project. For a few weeks now our finished basement has been command central for operation “get the girl ready for college.” The floor next to the now empty storage unit that once held Barbies, Polly Pockets, and later, sheet music and notebooks and binders from each passing school year is lined with a succession of plastic tubs, each bearing the essentials of college life.

One tub holds laundry detergent and cleaning...

10 Things I Want to Say to the Young Couple Buying Our Home

I had never planned on leaving the house where we raised our children. In fact, when we put an addition on our house in the midst of our too-many-children-sharing-too-few-bathrooms days, we did so with the idea of putting everything important on one floor. We anticipated aging in our house and we didn’t want to have to battle stair-climbing as we inevitably grew stiff and sore. But with a newly empty nest came new job opportunities for my husband and me, and recently we found ourselves planni...