My very first teen guinea pig was a freshman in high school and also happened to be my niece. She had fallen in love with photography and wanted to travel the world shooting pictures. My response, “Great! But do you really know what you are doing with that camera?” We established a plan of action which I now call P2P: Passion to Proficiency.
We mapped out the next several years of high school summers:
1. Post-9th grade: specialized program that would provide in depth skill-building with the camera, editing, story telling and portfolio building.
2. Post-10th grade: Travel, with camera, under the tutelage of experienced photographers and journalists.
3. Post-11th grade: Continue traveling but adding videography and journaling, again under the direction of experts.
Lauren is and will always be a star all on her own. But her P2P plan augmented her skills and confidence to move forward through school. As a graduate with distinction, from Duke University, in Visual Media Studies, she received a grant to produce a documentary on the migration of a mother and daughter from Peru to the United States. She then has gone on to work with Red Hook in Brooklyn doing a documentary as well as teaching children of the organization how they can use photography to tell their story and outline their passion. She recently became a professor at Duke University in Mixed Media, has done several installations and continues to develop what started as a child.
With Lauren’s success as my guide, I have implemented the P2P plan with many teenagers with passions ranging from: writing to medicine, engineering to sports, entrepreneurship to environmental sustainability, government and politics to musical theater.
P2P does not guarantee awards and college admissions, but P2P will enrich the life of your teen and demonstrate a commitment and dedication to success. A side bonus for sure is creating the wonderful story of their high school years and development, which can certainly be used for college applications.
If you are interested in learning more about options for your teen, let’s talk.