Episode 25: Steve Gardner: Helping Your Child Find Their Full Potential and Get Into the College of Their Choice

If you are the parent to a teenager who is looking at college or feeling frustrated with how to pursue the college of their dreams - then this episode is for you!!

My guest today is Steve Gardner! 

Steve helps teens successfully pursue the college of their dreams without sacrificing sleep, fun or friends along the way. He knows that students abandon their full potential because gaining admittance to a top tier college feels daunting. Steve is a Harvard grad and an educator who has been there before and understands how frustrating the entire college admissions process can be. Before becoming a teacher, Steve was a personal development and high performance coach. He created the Ivy League Challenge to help students and their parents understand that the best way to get into a top college is to find yoru core values, pursue your interests with genuine curiosity, and make an impact on your community. Steve is passionate about his work and this interview is super inspiring for any parents of teens to hear! 

If your teenager is looking to get into a top-tier college, you probably keep hearing the same four tips from everyone. Guess what?  That advice is horrible! 

So why don’t these tips work? Well, first of all, what they expect your teenagers to do is to get into these top-tier colleges is exhausting. 

When you are a teenager, not only is your body still growing, and we grow during sleep. It is SO critical to get good sleep while your body is growing and developing! 

And these colleges DON’T want everyone to do the exact same thing and show up the exact same way. They aren't trying to create clones. They want students who are making an impact in their community, and someone who will continue to do that in the future!

Most of the time, the people who end up getting accepted into these colleges are the ones who don’t expect to get in!

Steve is sharing about the Ivy League Academy that he created and how it helps not only the students get into the top-tier colleges of their dreams but with their entire life afterward.

One of Steve’s modules he teaches in the Ivy League Challenge is to spend time studying what your core values are. Most teenagers aren’t aware. Steve goes through a series of visualizations and thought exercises to help them understand what their core values are. 

It really does take a lot of guided effort for teens to figure out who they are and why they are which is what the Ivy League Challenge does. Steve walks us through each of the modules that he takes teens through to learn this.  

But….maybe college isn’t for your child? Should you still push them to be getting into these colleges?

I don’t believe so, and actually, Steve doesn’t either! Most of the time, a teenager wants to find their own way, and hearing what they should or shouldn’t do from a parent never goes very far. 

By creating the Ivy League Challenge Steve is making this world a better place! It makes life easier for parents, for kids and it’s just a gift to everybody!

You can find out more about Steve by visiting his website here.

Listen to Steven’s podcast, Ivy League Prep Academy Podcast here.

  • I would SO appreciate you leaving a rating and review in Apple Podcast if you’ve found this podcast encouraging, and inspiring in any way!

julie hatch