• Academic Study Associates

Immerse yourself in another language/culture or live like college freshman.

• American Field Service

• Bionr
  

• US Coast Guard MITE program

Free program for minority students interested in engineering.

• Career Explorations
  

• Cornell Summer College

Explore careers & make discoveries. Financial aid available for US citizens and residents

• Experiment in International Living

Study or volunteer abroad

• For American Indian 11^th & 12^th graders of American Indian ancestry contact Celeste Friend at (303)939-0023 ext.28 or email aisespc@pot.colorado.edu

• Global Works

• Interlochen

• Kroka Expeditions
  

• Mercersburg
  

• New York Film Academy

• Presidential Classroom

• Seacamp

• Where They Be Dragons

Some of these are very expensive but if you are in need and cannot get financial assistance, your kids don't have to attend an expensive camp or visit a foreign country . Try to see if jobs or volunteer opportunities are available in your communities or if your friends or relatives are skilled at art and crafts, ask them to impart that skill. Learn to knit, sew, make inexpensive jewellery, handbags, gift baskets or get fit by learning a new sport.

I'll be off to the US for two weeks, so no blogging for a while, unless my son can part with his laptop long enough. See you when I get back.

• I feel asleep - As Nutmeg would say " Dude nobody is making you read it. And have you ever heard of a blogroll?

• I fell asleep - Ok enough! It is law related not exciting like fertile healthy's hunks.
  

• I fell a sleep - Yes you did when you wrote this. Are you a judge?

• I can fell the say - What the hell are you trying to say? Come on man wake up.

• Massachusetts happy hour law - Now we are talking and I daresay doing other things too.

• Women Who Are Not Happy - Maybe you need to go to Massachusetts.

• Bondage Monica - I swore it was supposed to be g-rated. Let us give fertile healthy something else to write about
  

• Motivational Speakers - We think Bondage Monica can motivate them well enough.

• Law School Hot Mama - You go girl. Come on down.
  

• Power of Attorney Not Doing Job - Oh get a life maybe I need to change the name. No way! I might lose Bondage Monica and Law School Hot Mama. They are here to stay.
  

• Use Your Immediate Environment

• Safety is a Must

1. Baby Names - They say anything goes this year. Frankly that seems to be the continuation of a trend started sometime ago. They give an example of Nevaeh (heaven spelled backwards) and using surnames as first names. Since anything goes my friend should be proud of her name Myrth. She hates the name and uses her middle name Wendy instead.
   
2. Toy Safety - Of course with the heightened publicity given to lead poisoning and the lead content in toys especially in lead based paint, this is no surprise. Parents have a right to be concerned and must inform themselves. They can do so by opening a free account here and getting updates.
   
3. Better Work-Life Balance - Parents are demanding and employers are responding to this yearning to ease family related concerns in the hope of improving work productivity. Over 70 baby friendly companies are included in the data base of Parenting in the Workplace Institute. Other companies may not go this far but may provide day care facilities on the premises or nearby for the benefit of their employees.
   
4. Sophisticated Nurseries - Apparently the basic pink for girls and blue for boys are out. More sophisticated hues like pumpkin, deep burgundy, hunter green or aqua are hip for nurseries and they claim babies see them better than softer muted shades.
   
5. Joint Travel - To reduce costs and provide instant playmates for kids, the latest trend for families is to travel to vacation getaways with friends. So if you want to reconnect with old friends, get trendy and plan for both families to vacation together. Make sure you deal with the cost sharing issues up front instead of squabbling about it later.
   

Since the conflict began in 2003, an estimated 350,000 Darfurians have died, most due to starvation. Experts warn that number is likely to increase, however, and the UN World Food Program has cut aid to Darfur by half, citing shortages.

The mass exodus of 1.8 million refugees has posed complex security and humanitarian challenges for Sudan's neighbors, especially Chad.

"Human rights groups estimate that more than a million Sudanese children have been caught up in the bloodshed, displacement and killing in the region."

BBC news

I am really tired of reading how to make money online. Now don’t get me wrong, I have learned a lot from most of the ones I have read but I feel so bombarded by the flood of bloggers trying to let me in on their one of a kind secret for “free” that I tend to either avoid them outright or just stick to few seemingly real professionals. Unfortunately this is what they usually offer:

§ very little real information; but hey even though they write nothing it is a whole bright, colorful page long

§ request for money right at the very end of the page of non-information inflated with fabulous testimonials from other money making machines saying, “This is the greatest product ever, I don’t know how I managed without it. Can I get an Amen?”

§ downloadable “free” secret tips in exchange for your email

§ other crappy “free” products supposedly as part of that big secret tip

§ useless free secret products tied to expensive software absolutely necessary to implement the myriad secret tips

§ spammy requests via email to join some line that has already made loads of cash. You could be next!

Newbies

Lots of new bloggers, are drawn to this niche because they feel that this is where they can really make some quick cash. I am a newbie blogger myself but I think I can spot an insubstantial article when I see it. I have no problem with new bloggers who are trying to make money but if you have not established yourself as a real money earner in the business, why should I listen to you? On the other hand if you have made lots of money why should I believe you’ll let me in easily on your little secret either? Come on we know you really don’t want to share the pie.

How it Works

1. Gullible reader is told to download free ebook or to get access to another site to learn all about how to make money online. In order to get the link to download or get access gullible reader has to send email address.
2. Before he can blink, link arrives. Gullible reader clicks link and voila, ebook arrives and he can read immediately, print or save this valuable information, after all it is now his for free remember; OR gullible reader is taken to another site where he is assailed by wonderful products which he must buy NOW, he will NEVER get this opportunity again. He feels like it is a matter of life or death and if he ever dares to move away from the page he may be doomed to a life of pure misery and poverty FOREVER.
3. Gullible reader reads assiduously and implements as best he can. There is so much wonderful information that gullible reader must use, oh if only time would permit. Wow he reads and clicks and spends and reads and clicks and spends again furiously, anxiously, and eagerly not remembering the time limit to request a guaranteed refund is quickly approaching.
4. Gullible reader does get a bit of change not quite the cha ching moment he was expecting but he has made a little bit and he is pleased when the coins roll in.
5. You know of course that by now gullible reader is an affiliate of crappy product seller and so you can guess what he did. Oh yes that is how he amassed that fortune of coins, he found a partner gullible reader to continue the miserable cycle.
6. But gullible reader has entered the game too late and other gullible readers aren’t exactly a dime a dozen; so when gullible reader calculates how much he has spent he discovers that he is actually in the red.
7. Gullible reader is now seeing red. He is frustrated as he can’t quite recoup all he has spent. He is told he must have patience, he must learn the tricks of marketing, he is told it takes a long time and it is hard work.

But they didn’t tell him this on the bright colorful front page, did they?

To say there is no shortage of high performing kids applying to colleges today is a serious understatement. Given the high rate of college rejections being reported, one thing is clear: from an academic standpoint college applicants are more than making the grade. In addition as one poster put it on the physics forums some time ago “SAT scores and grades are little more than a first pass filter to weed out the obviously unsuitable.” If kids want to attend high ranking universities/colleges they must have more than an excellent academic record.

EC's

This brings us to the extracurricular activities commonly referred to as EC’s. Many of these brilliant kids engage in wide ranging activities encompassing community service, drama, music and sports. But is this enough? Have you ever heard the phrase “Jack of all trades, master of none”. This is what is likely to happen if you stretch yourself too thin. How can you be passionate about so many things? Hear that word, passionate. I have seen it being used by successful college applicants and admission officers time and again. As Ben Jones from MIT said “often these kids knew how to grind, but brought nothing else to the table.”

For kids and parents this can be difficult to understand, the high ranking colleges want kids who can manage a demanding course load and demonstrate passion but not passion for academics alone, that is a given, they must demonstrate something more. And that something more seems to be the crux of the matter; that is what seems to give one kid the edge over the other.

5 Tips

When kids are choosing EC’s it is clear they must do so wisely. The feedback I get is that you might have a better chance of success if you:

1. Truly enjoy what you do – do not do it because you think it looks good on a college application; you must have a genuine interest not merely a mild, resume stuffing curiosity.

2. Excel at it – if you want to go to a school with an excellent program for that EC then you should be at the top of your game as other competing applicants will be. If you have national awards they will carry more weight than a competitor with state awards. Otherwise choose a school where you would stand out in that program. In other words explore the schools thoroughly you will have more luck in an area with less competition for your skill.

3. Choose an unusual EC – if you choose an EC which thousands of other kids are NOT pursuing then you will face less competition and may find yourself adding to that diverse pool which college admissions are seeking to assemble. Again though make sure you genuinely enjoy it.

4. Take important life lessons from it – this is important for essay writing purposes. The essay is a self promoting exercise and if you can show how your genuine interest in a single EC helped you to grow as a person that will resonate. EC’s provide a good source of experiences from which you can draw specific examples to give an admissions officer an idea of what kind of person you are.

5. Think outside the box – EC means extra curricular. This is not limited to a sport or an art activity; it can be volunteer work, a research project or a business on the side. Whatever it is you must be committed as that will demonstrate your passion.