Tag Archives: Starting College

The Virginia Festival of the Book – A Wonderful Experience

In March, Donna and I were presenting authors at the Virginia Festival of the Book.  I participated in three events.  On Wednesday March 16th, I talked with fifty students at Albemarle High School about preparing for success in college.  Several of the students told me how much they appreciated the advice and how I shared it with them and the teachers were glad to hear their messages reinforced by someone the students enjoyed listening to.

Wednesday evening, I was one of two panelists discussing the adolescent mindset and the best ways to help students prepare for and have a successful college experience leading to graduation in four years with good grades and good job prospects.  There was a standing room only audience who had sons and daughters in college or preparing to go so they were quite interested in our presentations.  They demonstrated their interest by purchasing all the books I had brought for sale!

Finally, Sunday morning I briefly discussed College In Four Years at the Links of Charlottesville brunch for Festival authors who wrote books relevant to African Americans and/or people of color.  I told the audience of 200 about the value of the book for students and parents and how it could be instrumental in helping them work together for success in college.  The message resonated with them and they also purchased every book available for sale.

In addition to these presentations, I will be sharing more information with students in Charlottesville high schools in May.

Needless to say, I am thankful for the opportunity to participate in the Virginia Festival of the Book and thrilled with the reception College In Four Years got at all the events and with an opportunity to share information with more students in May.  Take a look at the pictures below from the events.

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The beginning of a great event!
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My talk with students at Albemarle High School.
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The Sawyer Authors!
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My panel discussion on the teenage mindset and higher education with Dr. Florence Jensen (The teenage Brain: Planning for Success in High School, College, and Beyond) and our moderator Ms. Elizabeth Benedict.

 

 

 

The Virginia Festival of the Book

VaBookFestival2016-OrigI want to let you know that I will be participating in the Virginia Festival of the Book later this month.  Here’s a list of the events, dates, times and locations.  I hope you can join me there:

Presentation of College in Four Years at Albemarle High School at 2775 Hydraulic Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901.  The presentation will be at 10:30 AM on Wednesday March 16th.

A discussion of College In Four Years as part of the Virginia Festival of the Book at 6:00 PM on March 16th at the Northside Library at 705 Rio Road, West Charlottesville, Virginia 22901.  The discussion will be from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM.

Participation in the 13th annual Celebration Brunch 11:30 AM–2:30PM at the Charlottesville Omni Hotel on Sunday, March 20, 2016 sponsored by the Links of Charlottesville where each author will briefly discuss his/her book.

Dr. Granville M. Sawyer, Jr. Appears on The Thornton Business Hour Wednesday, January 20, 11:00 AM, WOL 1450 AM

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I’ll be the guest of Pat Thornton, on her radio show, The Thornton Business Hour on WOL 1450 AM tomorrow January 20th at 11:00. You can also listen to the live stream at  http://woldcnews.newsone.com/ if you are outside of the listening area.

Pat and I will be talking about how to earn a college degree in less time with less stress for less money.  If you would like to leave a comment or a question that you would like for me to answer during the show please do so in the comments section below and tag it #ThorntonBusinessHour.

A Review of ‘Where Everybody Looks Like Me’

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I just published a review of “Where Everybody Looks Like Me”  By Ron Stodghill on Afro.com.  You can read it at:

http://www.afro.com/where-everybody-looks-like-me-and-the-challenges-facing-hbcus/

Let me know what you think.

How Good Is That High School Diploma?

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Copyright State Farm

I’ve been reading with some concern about accountability for k-12 education going back to the individual states as a result of No Child Left Behind being discontinued.  This will make national evaluations of high school students’ abilities harder.  Every high school graduate should have some idea of how he/she compares with graduates from other high schools across the nation because the market for jobs is national and becoming more international every day.  Allowing states to be individually responsible for assessing what their students know and can do will make this more difficult.  An article from the New York Times shows why this is so important.

How can we ensure that all students get the quality public school education they deserve?  Let me know what you think.

Is That Ivy League Education Really Worth It?

Take a look at this article.  It has some eye opening numbers in it concerning earnings ten years after graduating from some of the most expensive colleges and universities in the nation.

CARRYING ON THE TRADITION

 

 

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by Rashida S. Mar b. courtesy of Flikr

In my blog post “Talking Good Talk” I shared the important role family dinners had in my life as I grew up. When I had my own family, my wife and I  instituted the same rule as my parents—six days a week, Sunday through Friday, our family ate dinner together. The tradition had the same effect on our children it did on me. We talked and laughed about everything which helped us bond as a family. We also talked good talk about what was happening the world and what it meant to each of us. My wife and I intentionally kept the conversation at a high level so our kids could learn from the discussion and the thinking behind comments  made.

My oldest daughter, who had a very good public school education, got a scholarship to a university in upstate New York. After a few weeks on campus she called and said “Daddy, I’m going to school with trust fund babies.”  When I asked her what that meant, she said these kids were from successful,  affluent New York families who provided them with everything they needed. From the day they were born their families set aside trust fund all they would need for the best private schools. “They had and still have advantages I don’t have,” she also told me, “but I have  no trouble keeping up with these students academically or socially because of what I learned around our dinner table.” I’m sure some other things contributed to confidence but I believe what she was telling me was that she knew what she had to say was valuable and valued and she could hold her own in any environment – with or without a trust fund.

From her experience and mine, I know that what happens to outside of school is as important, perhaps  more important than what happens in school. School is where you get your knowledge but home is where you learn your values. Let me know if you had similar experiences growing up or as a parent.

College Is An Entrepreneurial Venture

Josh Smith, Granville Sawyer and Molly Matthews on Biz Talk with Josh
Josh Smith, Granville Sawyer and Molly Matthews on Biz Talk with Josh

Molly Mahoney Matthews and Dr. Granville M. Sawyer were recent guests for two shows on CBS Radio’s Biz Talk With Josh. Host Joshua I. Smith interviewed Matthews and Sawyer and the topic was Bookends, an innovative approach to college as an entrepreneurial venture that prepares college students to graduate in four years with business and entrepreneurial skills. Bookends pairs the higher education experience of Dr. Granville M. Sawyer, Jr. with the entrepreneurial/business management success of Molly Mahoney Matthews using the information and insight from Molly Matthews’ book, Unsinkable: Find A Job, Create A Career, Build A Business and Dr. Granville Sawyer’s book College in Four Years: Making Every Semester Count.

Click the player to listen to an excerpt from the show:

Interested in learning more about Bookends for your organization or institution? Complete the contact form below.

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Five Tips to Help College Freshmen Start Smart

theory into practiceThis fall more than 8-million freshmen* started their college careers on campuses all across the country. The first semester will be one of the most exciting in their college career; it will also be their most difficult. Everything is new, different and confusing. They are in a place where they have so much in common with so many people; there are bound to be distractions. Then there’s the added pressure of being responsible for figuring everything out for themselves.

As a university professor and advisor, I’ve greeted 33 freshmen classes so I know a few things about helping incoming students start college the right way. Here are five tips that will help set priorities and give this year’s freshman class insight into the smart way to start their college career:

  1. Start off with the right attitude, know how special college is. Sixty-eight percent of college age students in the U.S. start college and four years later, only 19 percent graduate with a degree.* You’re special – act like it.
  2. You are going to have a lot of questions – get good answers. Bad information can derail your college career. Get accurate information by going to the source: not a friend, Facebook, Twitter or something overheard in the student center. Advisors, professors and school administrators have the right advice and information. You may have responsibility for your college career but your advisor will help you take control of your college experience. They can help you figure out the classes you need, and assist you in scheduling classes so you stay on track throughout your college career.
  3. The catalog for your incoming freshman class is your contractual agreement with the college or university; it gives you a clear path to graduation. If you haven’t looked at it– now would be a good time! Your catalogue clearly specifies all the conditions for graduation and the right sequence enabling you to graduate in four years. Read it, no, study it as soon as you arrive on campus and refer to it when you plan your classes with your advisor.
  4. Make sure your teachers know you. Be more than a name on the class roll — put a face, personality and potential to your name. Professors respond better (as in grading) to a   person. In your first semester (and every semester thereafter), see every teacher from   every course outside of your class time. Office hours are one of the most under used resources available to students. Most of the money you spend on college goes to pay your professors, so get your money’s worth by getting some one-on-one attention.
  5. Run with the Big Dogs. The Big Dogs are not the students that are most attractive, socially popular, most personable or the best dressed. The Big Dogs are the best students in your classes and they always eat first! They eat the professor’s attention, the best internships, the best jobs, salaries and the best opportunities in life.  

These five tips will get a student going, but graduation is the goal. Start smart and use these resources to stay smart every semester thereafter.

*U. S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics – Projections of Education Statistics to 2020, 39th Edition