There is so much pressure on our teenagers to get into a prestigious college and , let's face it , not everyone is going to go to an Ivy League school . And is that even important ? How much does that matter ? Is there really a school for everyone , and what are choices for kids who are not college bound ? Well , today I have on Sonia Casique . Sonia is a college and career counselor . She's going to answer those questions and more . So , have no fear , I promise you you will feel less anxious by the end of this episode . Welcome to your Zen friend . I'm your host , lauren Wolfe .
Speaker 1On this podcast , I will share wisdom from working as a licensed professional counselor for more than 20 years . Using storytelling and lighthearted humor , each episode will explore themes on personal growth , including tips and strategies to boost mental wellness and overall wellbeing . If you're a perfectly imperfect human like me , who's always striving to do better and feel better than this podcast is for you , let's get started . Welcome , zen friend . I hope , wherever you are , you are doing well . I am so excited to have my friend , sonia Casique , who is a college and career counselor , on the show today . Sonia has some wonderful advice for parents If you are feeling overwhelmed just thinking about the college process or how to help direct your son or daughter after high school and help them to find a career . If they're not college bound , then have no fear . Sonia is here to help talk us through a lot of different aspects that are really helpful for parents to know .
Speaker 1When my daughter was applying to college back a few years ago , oh man , I was so super overwhelmed . The process is so different than when I was applying to colleges back in 1990 . Luckily I had a dear friend , christine McAndrew , shout out to you . She helped us tremendously through the process of identifying schools that might be a good fit for my daughter and the college application process that came after that . So I was so grateful for that because , again , it's just a really different world than when I applied to schools . If I had known Sonia back then I would have readily and excitedly used her services . I met her just a little too late and my son just finished his college applications . He is done . They are all in so proud of him . It's such a huge undertaking .
Speaker 1I met Sonia just a little too late to get her help with my son , aimen , or I would have done it in a heartbeat . She has a ton of knowledge and she is so friendly and warm and really helps you to feel at peace and not worried or frantic about the college application process , and there are aspects of it that are stressful . So I hope our interview today will be helpful to you . Even if you have kids who are maybe much younger and even high school is a ways off . I encourage you to listen and just start thinking about what's to come for you when your kids get there . I know it feels like they will never be there , they will be little forever , but it happens . It happens to the best of us . So before we get to my interview with Sonia , let's take a short break and then we'll get right to it .
Speaker 1I love to connect with listeners and I'd love to hear from you . Please reach out , let me know what you're enjoying and let me know what types of interviews and topics you'd like me to cover in the future . You can find me on Instagram , at your Zen friend pod , or email me at yourzenfriendpod at gmailcom . You can also join our private Facebook group by searching for your Zen friend in groups on Facebook . Let's get back to our show . Welcome , sonia . Hi , it's so good to have you on , sonia . So you work as a college and career counselor and also host the fabulous podcast college and career ready . Would you please tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and where you're from ?
Speaker 2Oh , absolutely . Well , I am a born and raised Houstonian . I've been married for , oh my goodness , 22 years , and I know- .
Speaker 1Me too , Sonia 22 , wow .
Speaker 2Yay , same . So I have 10 year old twins and they are actually kind of the reason why I do what I do . So a little bit about my background , professional background I am a former high school teacher . So I was in education and I taught a core class , which is biology , and then later I joined the career and technical education department , which means that the classes that I had were more career driven . So I taught the pharmacy technician program , which was for students in the high school that kind of knew that they wanted to pursue something in the medical field and maybe it was being a pharmacy tech . So I did that , had the great fortune to have the opportunity to go back to school and get my master's in counseling and later specialized in or , being sorry , later became a certified school counselor .
Speaker 2I crossed the stage when I was pregnant and one month away from delivering the twins .
Speaker 2So , yeah , and I decided at that point to take a little bit of a pause in my career journey because it had taken my husband like 13 years to get pregnant . So I wanted to be at home with the twins and so I did , and life has its way of just putting everything in the right moment . I worked for a company that specializing curriculum for no science programs . I worked from home for many years and I still had that urge to kind of really combine my experience and my ultimate goal of being a college and career coach . And the way I thought I could do that was through a podcast , and most people think of college and career counselors in the school setting . And although that is that I'd never say never , that might be a possibility for me one day . But I really wanted to help students navigate not only just how to get to college but really do career exploration first . So that was my first little passion is how can I get students prepared for college or career ?
Speaker 1because now we have either .
Speaker 2Or I thought well , what better way than to bring professionals in the field or current students and have them share their journey with our audience ? Then , in that transition , I realized the importance of helping students discover who they are as person , of course , before we do the career exploration . Out of that , I became the founder of Discover you College and Career Coaching . I love what I do . The podcast is a platform that's free for parents for tools and resources to help their child navigate the college and career journey . Then , through Discover you , I offer my College and Career Coaching services to really help identify , or help the child identify who they are as a person .
Speaker 2First , because we tend to jump at . I've seen it so many years being a high school teacher that students are like okay , I want to pursue this career . I've always been curious person . That's just part of my nature , and I would always ask like why ? They'll be like oh , because it's a high-paying job , or because my parents said it's a good job . Never in our conversation would they say oh well , you know what . I have this skill . I'll give you an example for myself I'm service , I love servicing , I love talking , I love communicating , I love personal development , which is why this career is perfect for me , but we never have that conversation . So long story to say that . That's where my passion is . With Discover , you is helping them identify who there is a person self-awareness . Then we transition into the career clarity and really creating a roadmap in our college and career journey .
Speaker 1Oh my gosh , sonia , I love that so much . I love that you are helping kids to first identify what they're good at , what they find interesting , really discover more about themselves before jumping into what do you want to do with your life . When my daughter was 14 , she was a freshman in high school I took her for her physical and her pediatrician said to her okay , you're a freshman , now you need to know what you want to do as a career . And my daughter looked at me and the doctor's back was to me and I'm shaking my head like do not worry about this . That is ridiculous .
Speaker 1You are 14 years old , right ? I think many of us don't know until we're a lot older than that and there's so much pressure on our kids to know what they want to do when they are adults from an early age . So I also am often telling my own children and the children that I work within , counseling listen and watch for those areas in your life that help you to feel excited and curious , where you want to know more information , those things that spark joy . I'm so curious , sonia . What are ways that you help kids really learn about themselves ?
Speaker 2That's a great question . So I teach a framework where the first part , we do more self discovery , but we do it in collaboration with parents and somehow I don't understand why . You know , at the high school it's like we're talking , the teachers are talking to the students and you know we're missing the bigger picture of having that family right , that family join in the parents , and so I do . You know , we do have like personality tests , but I'm not a big fan of those because I feel that the inner work has to be done , you know , with oneself and with the clarity that our parents can bring in from even our childhood . Because , let me tell you , if we really ask parents , they can identify things from even when their child was a toddler , like , oh yeah , you know he really was very curious . Or , you know , my child had this ability for art or drawing or writing .
Speaker 2But for some reason , you know , and I've done this too as they grow up , we tend to focus more on , you know , the career rather than really focusing on the skill . And it's almost like I'm peeling the layer . You know an onion , right , I'm peeling an onion with the child and the parent to help identify who they are as a person , and then we talk about skills , and skills is very important because a lot of people say , well , do what you love , right ? Well , here's the thing I love massages , right , I love having massages . I would never be a massage therapist , yeah . So I like massages as a consumer , not necessarily as the person doing it .
Speaker 2So we talk about that . We talk about skills . So , yes , we talk about things that they enjoy interest , but at the same time , we want to discover what it is that they're good at , and it can also help really digging into what classes they enjoy in class . What is it of the classes ? A lot of whys , and that helps kind of identify more about the person . And I teach this because I want to create a framework that they can always tap into , whether it's , you know , let's say , we start as early as 10th grade . Well , it's something that they can tap back into when they're seniors or when they're in college , because we're all growing and I think that's a big misconception you know that we feel like , oh , we're going to be static and we're going to be the same person that we are , and guess what ?
Speaker 2We're not . We evolve and we change , and so this is a framework that I want to teach early on so they can always go back to it . Wow .
Speaker 1It sounds to me like you are helping them not just tap into what brings them joy and curiosity and makes them feel excited , but also what they really are good at and where their skills lie . Oh , that's so fantastic , sonia . I would love to do some kind of research to see the kids you work with how successful they are at really identifying at an early age what they're going to do as they get older . That's just so cool . I bet it helps a lot .
Speaker 2Oh , my goodness , yes . And then here's the other thing , because I want to make sure I make this very clear to parents and I can say this by personal experience as well Because your child might not be good at something right now doesn't mean that they're never going to develop the skills . Let me give you a quick example . We unfortunately we sometimes do this unintentionally , where we label our child oh , let me use myself as an experience , I'm sorry as an example . For years I said , oh , I'm not creative , I'm just not creative . I'm just not creative . I can learn , I can sit down , I can study , I'm good in science , I'm good in building relationships and communication , but I'm not creative . And I said that for so many years . I really believed it .
Speaker 2And let me tell you , looking back now , I'm a podcaster , I create content . I create content for my listeners , I am creative and it is something that I was so passionate to learn how to do that I did learn , and so that's something that I also wanted to encourage parents to know that if your child has a specific interest in maybe developing a skill , there is definitely space . I'm not saying that if you're not born with it , you can never do it . No , absolutely you can . But there are some unique things , there are some unique traits that your parents and yourself can really figure out , that you already have , and then we can work on the other things that you want to gain .
Speaker 1Oh , that's fantastic , sonia . Yes , because so often we do change in big ways from where we were when we were younger and sometimes we have those limiting beliefs and they're just not true . I think you were probably thinking of creativity looking like one specific way , and here in podcasting it looks really different , but it's still creativity .
Speaker 2That's really cool , absolutely absolutely so we want to be careful with the way we label things , because we'll tend to listen ourselves when we talk and it can limit us .
Speaker 1Yeah , absolutely so .
Where I live in Connecticut there is just so much pressure put on kids to get into a prestigious school . I can't tell you how many kids I'll work with and they're in middle school and they're telling me that they are focused on getting into some Ivy League school and so every test they take , every quiz , every project . They feel like their future is riding on it . And where I live in Fairfield County , connecticut , a lot of the towns are really middle to upper middle class . There are some very wealthy people in some cases . Is this just kind of the pocket I'm living in , sonia , because I suspect it's probably more common nowadays across the country ? What do you see ?
Speaker 2Absolutely 100% . The student and the pressure on the students are so high nowadays and again , us as parents no matter what class you're in , you always want to strive your child to be to the next class , whatever that is . But in that process we create unnecessary pressure because we forget to really help the child enjoy the journey , and that is something that I advocate for so much is to help them enjoy the journey because there's a lot of learning opportunity there Now in reference to college selection . So I hate to drop the bomb on a lot of parents , but your school does not find the job for you Once you graduate . It doesn't mean that because you graduate from a certain university , it's an automatic job placement . So that is something that I want parents to really understand .
Speaker 2Is that really what's going to matter is what your child does in the university , that they go to , the networking that they do ? I had one student in particular that went to Ivy League School won't mention names , but went to an Ivy League school and , although now has a job but upon graduating had a really difficult time finding a job and you wouldn't imagine right going to an Ivy League school but at the same time I've had students who graduate from you know a state college and have found amazing job opportunities because of the network that they did . The skills that they bring that you know are unique to them . The degree really just tells you you've accomplished an educational goal . It doesn't really say who you are and what you can bring to a company , and that's what companies are looking for . The other thing is salary-wise . Is is going to stay within the brackets to a certain degree . So because you graduate from a certain university does not really mean you're gonna jump that bracket . The salary is what it is .
Speaker 1That makes sense yeah .
Speaker 2Yeah , and so a lot of people you know forget that . You know that I any career it's within a certain bracket of salary as entry level , and because you graduate from a certain university does not mean you have higher chance . It just means that you graduate from that university . What's really gonna distinguish between applicants is going to be what else you have to offer , and that's something that I talk about , that I coach any student that I coach . We always talk about that . We talk about what they do at the university and what networking they build early on , because a lot of students will graduate and have no internship experience , had no opportunity to network , and that's what employers want . They want to know what it is that you did while you were in college .
Speaker 1That's good to know . That sounds like really good sound advice , sonia . So I'm hearing you say and this totally makes sense like and tell me if I'm getting this wrong , please , sonia but I think I'm hearing you say that you really should look at what you'll be making , what people typically make in your industry , as you decide on a college . And I would imagine , especially if money is a factor . If you're going to have to take out student loans or your family doesn't have the money saved up to go to college , then you probably don't want to be paying $60,000 a year . If you're going to come out and be making a salary that's maybe $40,000 a year . Is that correct ?
Speaker 2Absolutely . So one thing that I can advise parents is please do not go to a university without , or sending your child to a university without first determining the financial burden that they're going to have . Return on investment is something that you really should stop and consider . How much is your child going to be making , salary wise , and what type of burden is it going to be going to a certain university ? Now let me tell you , if you have a full right scholarship to Naive League School , goal for it ? Absolutely .
Speaker 2So , I'm not discouraging any university , but I really do want students and parents to really think about the financial burden . I have had so many people that I have come across that , even even as an adult , even as a parent , they are paying their child's education while still paying their own loans and their own debt from college . So that breaks my heart Again . I want students to , of course , if you are applying to 20 universities , go to the best university that you can . That will offer you the best experience and I'm I'm telling you something in just a minute about that too but always look on the return on investment . How much are you going to be paying in the long run ?
Speaker 2The other thing is not every university is ideal for all careers , and that's something that a sure students are like oh , I just want to go to X university , and there are better universities , maybe that you don't even think of specialized in your career path you're interested , or the or the degrees that you're considering right , because maybe they're still having , they're still considering a couple of options . So really look at the degree program and how strong that university is for that degree and what opportunities that that university is going to offer you to ultimately help you find a job . That's , at the end of the day . I know , I know we have , you know , and there's there's legacy , sometimes going to a certain university , and I respect that right If there , if everybody's gone to a certain university and they just want to continue legacy , well , that's maybe a high price to pay .
Speaker 2But if that's what , that's what you want absolutely , but really really think about the programs that you're interested and really have that as in the forefront , along with return on investment when deciding what college you're going to go to . And if you have not had your child go to college yet , then you will know that the process Unfortunately I feel it's a little skewed because the college application process starts before you even know if you're going to qualify for financial aid . So apply to as many universities as universities as you as you can that offer the programs that you're interested in . But at the end of the day , wait until you have those , the the letters of acceptance with what you're going to be offered and what financial support you're going to have , before making a decision .
Speaker 1This was news to me . So my daughter is a junior in college this year . So when she was a senior I had girlfriends that were saying to me like it does , just apply , if you think she might like the school , just apply . Like you don't know what kind of merit scholarship she'll get , and I was saying I don't think we're going to qualify for financial aid . They're like , no , it's not financial aid .
Speaker 1So my understanding and what happened is she applied to universities and she was , you know , got acceptance letters and they would accept her and say and this is what we will offer you , which is basically like you're at a flea market haggling with someone , in a sense , right , we're like , uh , well , I'll give you this sterling silver bracelet for $30 . Well , we're going to be giving you this sterling silver bracelet for $30 . Well , would you give it to me for 25 ? Because then she had a university that was really pursuing her and wanted her to go there and offered her more money than the one she wanted to go to . So we went back to that university and said she really wants to come here , but look , this university is offering her more and they gave us a little bit extra . I had no idea . That was really surprising
. Is there anything I missed in explaining that that maybe parents who have younger children should be aware of ?
Speaker 2Well , that's a great question . So , first of all , you do regardless apply for FAFSA or financial aid , because sometimes they use that when determining merit , scholarships etc . Right ?
Speaker 1good to know .
Speaker 2Okay , uh-huh , but you are completely , 100% on point , and we just had an episode actually I just recorded it , it's going to probably , by the time this episode airs , that one would have already aired as well where , um , parents are unaware that they can appeal . They can appeal whatever package they got and , oh , I hate to say this , but the colleges and universities are still a business and they want your business and so , for that reason , especially if you go to , if you're comparing to colleges that are very similar and they're competing , or your child to go there , absolutely you can go and say X , y and C offered me this . Is there anything you can do to match it ? Because we really want to come here ? But financials , a little bit of struggle and , yes , they will consider that it possibly even match or Beat it .
Speaker 1It's yes . It was all very surprising to me . And then the first university that had offered her the most amount of money which of course she did not select that university Said they would still offer her the same merit scholarship if she decided to transfer in a year . So that was rather nice . I , I didn't know that was a possibility . You know she had that kind of backup if she didn't like where she went . Fortunately she liked where she went , but oh , it's , yeah , much different than it was when I was going into college . It's a whole different world , sonya , a lot for parents to navigate . So this is one reason why I'm so grateful for your podcast and the great information that you put out . It's so much nicer , I think , to listen to a friendly voice and a podcast . You know , doing my dishes or taking a walk , then it is to be just reading articles and googling and looking things up so grateful for what you do now no , oh sorry go ahead .
Speaker 2No , I was .
Speaker 2I was gonna mention , because something I forgot earlier is I have interviewed Enough people and I've been curious enough in my life to ask a lot of questions from professionals and let me tell you if , we , if , and we'll , let me say this Success means different for everybody , right ?
Speaker 2But let's just say , if we're focusing on financial success , I have not found yet a A immediate , direct correlation , a hundred percent of the time Saying that because you go to this university , you're going to be successful . What I have seen is quite the contrary , where I'm like , wow , this person is so financially successful and nobody would have probably even imagined if they would have seen you know the track record , or or not track record , but where they went to school . So Really , really know that your child can be successful in any area . But we need to lay the foundation and that is identifying who they are as a person , using their unique skills in the process of Determining their career and really looking on the return on investment . Because if we want to , if we want our students to be financially Successful , then less at the foundation , so when they graduate they can already be on a great start financially .
Speaker 1Ah , that makes a ton of sense on you . Now we we're talking about kids who are college bound , but if you have a teenager who College isn't where they want to go , that's not their next step , or maybe that's just not a path that really is right for them . How can parents find out , or or how can parents kind of direct them to figuring out , what some other options are that will actually enable them to financially support themselves ?
Speaker 2great Questions . So my number one thing that I would recommend is check with your school , because they usually have a lot of opportunities there for for the students to ask questions , get to learn more about other careers . Ask your teachers , and this is more for the student with the biggest thing , the greatest thing that a parent can do is self advocacy , which means help your child learn to ask questions . They have a network already . Their school is already a network for them , so they can ask a lot of questions . I work with students again as well , so there's people like me that are helping in this process . But one thing that I advise all parents and students is , even if it's just going to a community college , go , because if you take a gap here , there's a greater chance that they won't come okay . So we really want to . We really want our children to get their foot in the door and really get experience . There's a lot of certifications offered at the community college . So check your local community college . Well paying jobs , actually the width , with Certifications that are offered at the community college . I can be the best example that I can offer you , that I can show you .
Speaker 2I am a clear example where I graduated from high school and All I wanted to do was to get a certificate . I had no plans to ever , you know , have a four-year degree . I thought I'm gonna get a certification , that's gonna be my career goal and I did . And thankfully I had great mentors and support that they were like , okay , what's next ? And I was like , oh , and I had gotten my certification as a pharmacy technicians , like I'm gonna be a pharmacy technician for the rest of my life . And thankfully I had people to to really Bring truth to me and and say , hey , you can do it , you can go back to school . And , long story short , I now hold a master's degree , something that I would have never in my wildest dreams have imagined . But it all started with getting a certification . So I don't discourage that if and you know your child more than anybody else so if you feel that they need to have a stepping stone , that's okay . But have them go to a college , have them continue their education . That is the greatest gift that you can offer a child .
Speaker 2I'm an advocate for a four-year university , for going to a four-year degree , but I'm also an advocate for , you know , getting a to your degree or a certification , but get them to learn and know the importance of valuing education , continuing on after high school .
Speaker 2The other thing I wanted I wanted to share is that and this and you'll understand this a little bit more , lauren being a therapist , knowing what I know now about myself as an adult , I Honestly think that if I would have gotten with the idea straight on to go get a four-year bachelor's degree and Gone to a major four-year university , I might have not been as successful .
Speaker 2I might have even dropped out , to be quite honest , because I tend to be with with high anxiety and I had a lot of things that I had to deal with that I feel that probably wouldn't have been as successful because Through going through a certification Sorry , through a certification program , I gained the tools and the strategies and the learning skills that I needed to Slowly move up in my education , and so I'm very grateful . If I go back in time , I probably do it all over again the same way , because I needed . I needed those stepping stones . So you know your child more than anyone else as a parent . You know if maybe they need that stepping stone and Please do not discourage it , because if that's what's best , let me tell you there is still room for growth . There is still room for improvement . If we really focus on on the student and letting them do their inner work and their personal growth , they can be successful in any career they choose .
Speaker 1Oh , thank you so much for sharing your personal stories , sonya . I think that Oftentimes people's paths to look like zigzags . My mind certainly has . I started at a community college , also my first semester . That's where I went , and there's no right or wrong way to get where you're going , and I don't think we have to even know 100% where we are going , or Often that changes right . What we start out thinking Changes and we end up in a different place . So I think that's such great advice for Parents who just encourage your kids to get a certificate . Who knows where that can take them ? And you're reminding me to that .
Speaker 1I just recently hired my first employee and my counseling practice , which is so exciting and she went to a community school , got a two-year degree in substance abuse and then and maybe that's not she , maybe was it four year , it might have been four , I think it might have been two , though I'm not sure , but at any rate it enabled her to practice . Before having her master's she worked at residential facilities and Now that she's got her master's degree and she's pre-licensed , she has eight years of experience . She's fantastic . She's so good at what she does as a therapist and it was because of that Certification that she got before she had the degree that enabled her to work in the in the field , which is really really cool . So I'm curious , sonya , is there's something you wish every parent and every child and I'll just go back to kind of college-bound kids , for now . Every parent and every child knew Something you wish you could tell them all .
Speaker 2Yeah . So you know , one of the things that that I love to do is interview people , and so you'll find episodes in my podcast where I've interviewed current professionals or students that that are really successful , one thing that I wish parents would take from each of those stories . So even if , like , let's say , I interviewed someone who's going into School to be an optometrist , give you an example still listen to their story , because there are nuggets of truth and nuggets of encouragement spread throughout that interview that really helps you realize that , really , success can be attained to who we are as a person by the things we do , not necessarily by , you know , sometimes even not necessarily by grades . So really identifying those and and finding those Skills and abilities in your child to encourage them .
Failure is something we didn't talk about , and I think that's something that's in that I wish all parents knew and could teach to their , to their child right now . That's something they could do today is , when they feel that their child has failed , to really take that as a learning opportunity .
Speaker 2What did we learn in the process and how can that make us better ? I think it's so easy for us to be like has fail mentality , and let's dig a little deeper and and really have those conversations with our children about growth in the process . Sometimes we need to take , we need to experience , you know , that situation or experience , that failure to really buckle up and and make us better for the next thing that's coming up . And I think that's something that we can teach early on with our parents , right now , that so when they get to college or even their career , they're comfortable knowing that sometimes things don't that really plan out as we imagine , but there's a lot of , there's a lot of growth . And then the other thing is rejection . Let's be okay with rejection , because we will have rejection in our career , in our personal life , in our college Experience , and it's okay because , again , it's about what we learn in the process and how we can better ourselves .
Speaker 2I think there's so much personal development that can that can really help Our children be less stress and really enjoy the journey . I want , I want our children To of course you know there's gonna be times of stress , rise , times of anxiety but enjoy the journey , because sometimes we have our child focus on an end goal and when we reach that end goal we might have missed the whole journey and sometimes the end goal is not as how should I put it Doesn't fulfill us as we thought it would , and it's the daily things that we can be doing can really make us happy and content in the process . Oh , that's so beautiful , sonya . Absolutely so much Value and failure , value in rejection and learning how to move through it , and finding who those people are that will support you and lift you up along the way .
Speaker 1Get back out there , keep trying . I think that so often , some of the best information we get is when we find those things that , like you said you know the end goal turns out to be oh guess what ? I hate you this . Okay , that's okay . That's good information to get , absolutely to get to where you're going . So , sonya , I'm sure there are many parents out there that would benefit them and their college bound students from working with you . How can people connect with you ? How can they have you help , help , just guide them through the college process ? That's a great question , and thank you for offering the opportunity to help you , help , help , just guide them through the college process .
Speaker 2That's a great question and thank you for offering the opportunity to share about what I do . First , first podcast . It's a free resource Please listen to . The college and career ready podcast is with the symbol and , again , we have three pillars in the college and career podcast platform . Let me back up . We have three pillars , which is career exploration , and we also have help students with the college application process . So we do have experts in the field who come in and tell us about that and then really just helping them create a roadmap for the students .
Speaker 2So the people that we interview wants to help see these students succeed and they're either sharing their experience , their journey , or their expertise in really helping parents navigate all of this together Because , yeah , it can be very stressful . So grab the free tools and resources , listen to our guests that have a wealth of knowledge to share . And then , if you want to work with me one-on-one , we also have the Discover U College and Career Coaching . You can find all of that information on my website . So it's one website you can navigate through it , and it's collegecareerreadyorg and that's all one word . It's collegecareerreadyorg . I also have an Instagram account and it's at soniagaseke , so it's S-O-N-I-A dot C-A-C-I-Q-U-E . I would love to help with your child , create clarity and really connecting them with people that can help them along the way ?
Speaker 1Awesome . Well , I sure hope everyone will check out your wonderful podcast , Sonia . I'll have all of the ways people can connect with you in the show notes . Thank you so much for being here and for sharing your wisdom .
Speaker 2Thank you so much for having me here and again . Please go get the free resources . That's the number one thing I advocate for . I'm very resourceful and let me know if you have any questions . You can also email me at info at collegecareerreadyorg . One of my gifts is being resourceful , so if you don't know the answer , I'll find someone who does
Awesome .
Speaker 1Thank you so much , Sonia . Thank you , I am so grateful to Sonia . She really knows her stuff and it is so good to know that Sonia is out there to help parents and help teenagers to navigate what is so overwhelming as they look to figure out either going to college or what they will do as a career post high school . So if that's something you need help with , please reach out to Sonia and definitely make sure you check out her podcast Again . It's called College and Career Ready . Find it wherever you find podcasts . It's fantastic . I'm also grateful to all of you for listening and a great big thank you to Susan , my editor . Thank you for making this show sound terrific . Well , that's it for this week's episode . Remember that a short guided meditation , a drop of Zen , comes out every Friday . Until next time , friend , I hope you'll take some time today and every day to do something kind for yourself .