Frank Bruni at Park: "Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be"

New York Times columnist and bestselling author Frank Bruni visited The Park School Thursday evening, May 7, to discuss the topic of his latest book, Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania. About the book:

Over the last few decades, Americans have turned college admissions into a terrifying and occasionally devastating process, preceded by test prep, tutors, all sorts of stratagems, all kinds of rankings, and a conviction among too many young people that their futures will be determined and their worth established by which schools say yes and which say no.

That belief is wrong. It’s cruel. And in Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be, Frank Bruni explains why, giving students and their parents a new perspective on this brutal, deeply flawed competition and a path out of the anxiety that it provokes.

Bruni shows that the Ivy League has no monopoly on corner offices, governors’ mansions, or the most prestigious academic and scientific grants. Through statistics, surveys, and the stories of hugely successful people who didn’t attend the most exclusive schools, he demonstrates that many kinds of colleges-large public universities, tiny hideaways in the hinterlands-serve as ideal springboards. And he illuminates how to make the most of them.

What matters in the end are a student’s efforts in and out of the classroom, not the gleam of his or her diploma.

www.hachettebookgroup.com/

Thanks to Frank Bruni for choosing Park as the site for this important and engaging discussion, the Park Parents’ Association for organizing the event, and The Ivy Bookshop for facilitating book sales.

JUST ANNOUNCED: On Thursday, May 21 at 7:00 pm,Tina Forbush and Liz Hirsch, Park School’s Co-directors of College Counseling, will lead a discussion about Frank Bruni’s book, the college admission process, and Park’s approach to the process. Location: The Middle School Commons. Park’s Philosophy recognizes that each student learns in his or her own way, the College Counseling office believes that each student has individual needs. The school’s goal is to facilitate a process of self-reflection, personal growth, and thoughtful decision-making that leads to a fulfilling next step in each student’s education. Please join us on May 21 for the Frank Bruni Book Talk.

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