FSEM 101 - Am I Living Out My Parent’s Dreams?

This seminar will explore the relationship between early life experiences, education and the goals we set for ourselves as adolescents and adults. We will approach this topic from several directions. Developmentally, we will look at the role of early life experiences to answer the following questions: How powerful are the interactions with one’s parents in shaping who we are and who we will become. What role does school play in life and career choices? What is the impact of the peers we interact with throughout our childhood and teenage years? Have stereotypes about our culture, religion, race, gender or age limited our goals or performance. What impact do MCAS, SAT, GRE’s or career tests such as the teacher test, bar exam, medical exams have on a person’s choice of college and careers?

We will discuss the “hurried child syndrome” which is the result of putting young children into competitive sports, academic preschools, forcing vocational choices on adolescents and pressuring high school students to go to college right after high school. We will also discuss peer relations in middle and high school and how teasing and bullying can impact a person’s ability to make good choices. Other topics will include discussing mentors you have had, experiences that changed the course of your life and/or books, poems or movies that touched you in a special way.

Credits 1