Ana Homayoun Looks at College Admissions from New Perspecitve in 'Erasing the Finish Line'

Academic advisor and early career development expert, Ana Homayoun, joins us to discuss her latest book, Erasing the Finish Line: The New Blueprint For Success Beyond Grades and College Admission. Written as a guide for middle schoolers, high schoolers and their families, her book focuses on the essential skills and strategies students need to be successful in school, life, and beyond. Homayoun explains that, many times, students get so involved with getting into college that when they do finally get accepted, they don’t have the tools necessary to thrive outside the classroom. She also adds that while attending college is the ultimate goal for many students, it certainly is not the only pathway to success. “I’ve been doing this work now for over 20 years and I have really seen how this faulty finish line around college admissions has utterly changed the classroom and the school dynamic, and it’s also affected our students and our families in many different ways, and what parents of every middle school and high school student need to know is that college admissions and college acceptance isn’t the finish line. So I really have seen how these daily habits and routines and fundamental skills are so key for our world that we live in today… my goal is really to help, to create a book that really supports families and understanding a) that we really need to move beyond this faulty finish line and college admissions and b) what are some practical, implementable skills that support the social and emotional well-being of students and also help them really pursue their own interest in a way that’s meaningful and fulfilling.”

One of the things that Homayoun stresses and teaches her students is the power of organization and how staying organized can help them plan and prioritize, therefore reducing their stress levels. In addition, being organized can also motivate students to develop their own systems, such as establishing the daily routines, habits, and skills they need to accomplish tasks successfully. “I really believe if we help kids with these skills, they’re going to transcend any expectations of them in a way that really supports their socio-emotional well-being, as well as their economic stability, because we also want our kids to have, you know, an ability to live in this world and feel comfortable financially, whatever that looks like…”

For Homayoun, writing this book took a great deal of commitment and diligence. She spent an extended amount of time developing her thoughts and ideas, devoting much of her weekends and mornings working on it. “This book was a labor of love that, I did the interviews with all my former students… it was really a very active experience that I feel really good about and am really proud of the book… [Their stories] gave me such hope because these are such different people and I’ve been so fortunate to work with such amazing young people that are also different, and their stories are different and their perspectives are different and their interests are different, and what I hope readers come away with is that idea that… there are so many different pathways and there’s no good, bad… there’s just different.”