Montgomery Community Media

The stores may be ringing with holiday tunes, but throughout the country high school seniors are wringing out whatever they can grab on to with stress over applying to colleges. The most daunting task for most students is writing their college application essays. Of course when they’ve completed them, they think they can take a […]

I vividly recall a moment of panic after a nurse entered my hospital room to discuss the details of my release after my first child was born. Holy cow, don’t they know I don’t really know what I’m doing? I’m not ready for this. Within seconds I recovered my cool, realizing the hospital had done […]

Today was the first day of school. Yesterday’s “rising seniors” are now official. This will be a year to look back on with fond memories. But living it…well, that’s another story! Speaking of stories, how’s that college application essay coming along? Before football season ends, the early application deadline will have passed. And like it […]

Our summer vacation is over, and the new school year is quickly approaching. Our daughter has left for her senior year at Cornell, and our son will leave before we know it for his sophomore year at DePaul. Soon we will be Empty-Nesters again. But what am I saying? We were practically Empty-Nesters all summer. […]

With College Application Essays on My Mind! As July slips away, I can’t help thinking how this has been an unusual summer in the Washington area. Usually we have the same forecast all summer long: hot and humid. This summer has been different. Sure, we’ve had those kinds of days, but we’ve also had days […]

As much of the world watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the spectacle was worth a billion dollars. That’s more than most of us could contemplate, much less could spend in a lifetime, even if we had it. Was it worth it? In truth, the answer may vary […]

One of the most predictable things each January is how busy the gym gets. Seriously. Everybody seems to have “work out more” on the list of resolutions for the New Year. This year, I decided to do something that would force me to stick with it: I hired a personal trainer. For at least sixth […]

January 1 not only marks the beginning of the new year, but for most high school seniors, it’s the final deadline for submitting their college applications. It’s the end of the first stage of College Application Season. (Stage II, the waiting period, is another story–and undoubtedly another blog post!) How can anyone be sure an […]

While working with a young man who was applying to several highly selective schools, I realized precisely why working with a professional editor beats relying on a teacher or other helpful adult for assistance with the college application essays. Editors think outside the school box. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not challenging teachers’ good intentions. […]

As I have driven past numerous flags at half-mast in respect for Nelson Mandela, I have thought about all the “heroes” and motivational people my students have written about in their college application essays. As their writing coach and editor, I must carefully guide the students into not getting caught up in the person they’re […]