If you’re the parent of a high schooler going into junior year, sophomore year, or freshman year, there’s one action that will solve multiple college planning hurdles at once: give your high schooler the freedom, time, space, resources, and support to explore something, anything, they’re actually passionate about. This single step helps them stand out from the pack, improves their chances of admission, and teaches them about themselves in ways that compound over time. Here’s how to make it happen this summer.
Welcome students, welcome parents. If you’re the parent of a high schooler who’s going into junior year, going into sophomore year, or going into freshman year, listen up.
Today I’m going to talk about why giving your high schooler the freedom, the time, the space, the resources, and the support to just explore something, anything, that they’re actually passionate about, to do so deeply, will solve so many hurdles in your family’s college planning journey.
I’m going to talk about some of those hurdles. I’m actually going to then discuss how you can support your child in exploring passion that they’re actually interested in exploring.
Let’s get into it.
Contents
The one step that solves three hurdles
Here’s the single action that makes a massive difference: let your child explore their passions this summer.
I know that sounds simple. Maybe even too simple. But when you understand what this actually accomplishes, you’ll see why it’s so powerful.
Let me walk you through the three hurdles this solves.
Hurdle one: standing out from the pack
You have to think in terms of the mindset of a college admissions representative. They’re seeing thousands and thousands and thousands of applicants.
And everyone’s got pretty good grades. And everyone’s got a pretty good standardized test score. And everyone’s got pretty good essays.
You need to give your child that “it factor” to stand out from the pack. Just to be unique. To be different. To be interesting.
The easiest way to stand out
The easiest way to do that is to give your child the freedom to explore something, anything, they’re passionate about.
When it comes time on their college applications, when they’ve got those pretty good grades and they’ve got those pretty good test scores and they’ve got those pretty good essays, all of a sudden it’s: “Wait, this applicant is super interested in… I don’t know… magic.”
And they go to magic camps and magic performances. And they’re into the history of magic. And they’ve read books on the top magicians ever. And they know Houdini’s four most famous performances.
All of a sudden, as an admissions rep, you’re like: “This is cool. This applicant’s different. They’re unique. They stand for something. They like magic.”
Obviously I’m just making magic up as an example. But you see the point.
Having something that a student is interested in outside of the school environment that they explore on their own just makes them stand out.
If your student doesn’t know what they’re passionate about yet, start with my free Saturday Morning Test. It’s the same exercise I use with every new family to uncover authentic interests.
Hurdle two: better chance of admission
Along with standing out, exploring a passion honestly allows an applicant to have a better chance of admission at their dream school.
Why? Colleges are looking for applicants who will add to their academic and social environments. Not just in college, but honestly after college.
What colleges are really looking for
They’re looking for students who will:
- Go through their four-year college curriculum
- Graduate with a degree
- Do great things in the world
- Consistently say “I went to [insert school]”
That’s what they’re looking for.
We live in a society of specialization
These days we live in a society that’s based on performing in one single area. The neurosurgeon that you know might not be the best architect, right? The veterinarian might not be the best dentist. And that’s okay.
We live in a society of specialization.
Colleges want to see that a student is willing to find anything that they’re interested in and then explore it one, two, three levels deeper than the typical teenager does.
Because when they do that, it shows that they’ll be a great member of the college and perhaps a great member of society.
Hurdle three: learning about themselves
The reason why I think this is more important than anything else is that if a student goes through and explores something they’re interested in, and takes the time to learn, and takes the time to invest in it, it’s amazing how much they will learn about themselves.
What they’ll discover
They’ll learn about:
- Their study habits
- Their tactics
- Their learning styles
- What they’re interested in
- Maybe what they’re not interested in
The compounding factor
This has a compounding factor. As they start to really hone in on their learning styles and what they’re interested in, they’ll get more confident. And as they get more confident, they want to explore deeper.
And so step one leads to step two. Step two leads to step four. By the time they’re at step 20, they are an interesting, unique applicant that has a fantastic unusual item that they can add to their application.
It will help them stand out from the pack. It will allow them to write unique essays. It will allow them to learn about themselves. It will have a compounding effect.
How to get started: the Saturday Morning Test
Families always come to me and say, “I’m just not really sure where to start.”
Here’s where you can start: the Saturday Morning Test.
I’ve talked about this before. This comes from one of my favorite authors of all time, Cal Newport.
The hypothetical scenario
The Saturday Morning Test goes like this:
Hypothetical scenario. You wake up on a Saturday morning as a high schooler. You have no homework you can do. You’re not allowed to go back to bed. You’re not allowed to access the internet. You’re not allowed to access screens. You’re not allowed to access the TikToks, the Snapchats, the Instagrams, all the things the kids are doing these days. You have no access to your phone.
What would you do?
What happens when you ask this
It’s amazing when you put those kind of boundaries on this question how students, first of all, typically freak out when I tell them this. They can’t picture a world without those things.
But then when you actually dive deep and have them explore this, very quickly they’ll have one or two or three things that they would do. Things they would explore.
That’s usually where I’d start.
What to do after the Saturday Morning Test
Parents then say, “Okay, I’ve got that thing now, right? Whatever that thing is. Where do I start?”
Wherever you want to start.
The beauty is just getting started
When you get started, you will make so much more progress than you ever thought possible.
Give your child access to books. Have them read the very first book on the subject. Have them go and explore and actually do the activity, the lesson, etc.
Just take step one.
Why step one matters
Because what will happen is, if your child is actually passionate about it, they’ll enjoy step one. And then step one will lead to step two that they’ll probably figure out on their own. Step two will lead to step four.
And by the time they’re at step 20, they are an interesting, unique applicant that has a fantastic unusual item that they can add to their application.
The summer opportunity
Just take step one. Just have them start with step one.
It’s amazing, especially over a summer, here in multiple months, if they dive deep and explore their passions, it’ll help in a plethora of ways over the years to come and their eventual college planning journey.
Why summer is perfect for this
Summer gives your student something they don’t have during the school year: unstructured time. Time to explore without the pressure of grades, homework, and extracurricular obligations.
That’s when real passion exploration can happen. That’s when step one can turn into step five, step ten, step twenty.
Let your child explore their passions. When you let your child explore their passions, that has a compounding effect.
One step, three hurdles solved
Let me summarize what we’ve covered.
If you’re the parent of a high schooler going into 9th, 10th, or 11th grade, one action this summer can solve three major college planning hurdles:
- Standing out from the pack – When everyone has pretty good grades and test scores, passion makes you different
- Better chance of admission – Colleges want students who go deep, not wide. Specialization signals future success.
- Learning about themselves – Study habits, learning styles, and self-awareness compound over time
The one step? Give your child the freedom, time, space, resources, and support to explore something they’re actually passionate about.
Start with the Saturday Morning Test. Then just take step one. The rest will follow.
Ready to take the next step?
If you want specific exercises to help your student brainstorm what they’re passionate about and then come up with activities they can utilize over the summer to further those passions, book a free 45-minute college planning strategy session with our team.
We work specifically with high-performing high schoolers in 9th, 10th, and 11th grade and their parents. We’ll help you figure out exactly where to focus this summer so that when application season comes, your student has something genuine and compelling to share.
Frequently asked questions about summer passion exploration
What if my student says they’re not passionate about anything? That’s common, and it’s usually because they haven’t had the space to discover what they care about. Start with the Saturday Morning Test. Remove the screens, remove the obligations, and see what emerges. Something always does.
Does the passion have to be “academic” or “impressive”? No. Magic, as I mentioned, is a perfectly valid example. So is cooking, woodworking, video games (when explored deeply), fashion, cars, animals, music. The key isn’t what they’re interested in. It’s that they go deeper than the typical teenager.
How deep is “deep enough”? Can they talk about their interest for 20 minutes without running out of things to say? Do they know things about it that most people don’t? Have they read books, taken courses, built projects, or connected with others in that space? That’s deep enough.
