Organic Chemistry Tutor

Organic Chemistry TutorIf you are seeking a solution to improve your science grades, the first thing you need to do is find an organic chemistry tutor YouTube channel. This technique of learning has been around for some time and has even been used by some great scientists throughout history. While it is likely that your school will not offer online tutoring sessions or a tutor online, you can still find a good science tutor on YouTube. This is because they have a lot of experience and know how to keep your interests at the forefront of their teaching sessions.When looking for an organic chemistry tutor, you will want to make sure that you find one who is willing to put their ideas and opinions on the screen. This means that they will most likely be promoting products that they believe in. Often times, they will teach what is best for your current career. If you are studying a particular subject, they may promote a certain supplement or treatment that they have found to work very well for other people. This can actually help you with your goal of improving your science grades.It is important to understand that there are actually two different things that can cause your science grades to suffer. The first thing is if you don't want to take supplements or treatments. The second is if you are taking a substance that isn't natural. Some organic chemistry tutor videos may advocate taking in a supplement or treatment, while others may only recommend natural supplements that are proven to work very well for their students.A good organic chemistry tutor will offer a mix of both. You will probably find videos that will talk about the benefits of supplementing with these natural remedies as well as those that are created from natural products. There will also be those that go over the side effects that you may get from taking natural supplements.The key to finding an organic chemistry tutor that is going to be successful is to find a video that promotes both methods. Ther e are those that don't advocate supplements at all, but will talk about the proven effectiveness of natural remedies. There are those that only promote natural supplements that have shown to be effective when used in combination with other natural substances. This ensures that you get the best of both worlds.You can also find videos that will talk about a particular compound and explain how it will improve your science grades. This might mean the addition of a specific element to your diet. It could even mean that you will experience a weight loss.The key to finding an organic chemistry tutor is to find one that offers you both. The more you are exposed to this information, the better chance you have of making a positive impact on your grades.

Where Is The Line Between Your Work and Life - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / Where Is The Line Between Your Work and Life - Introvert Whisperer Where Is The Line Between Your Work and Life? I’ve noticed that many people struggle to identify where the line should be between their work priorities and their life priorities some call it work-life balance.   This struggle gets especially significant when a person is going through major career upheavals like switching jobs or changing careers.   As an adult, we amass numerous important elements to our life like a spouse, home, family, friends and an ever emerging career.   When decisions need to be made affecting our career directions, we take into consideration the needs and demand of those other aspects that comprise our life.   Many times, some priorities collide, leaving us feeling like we’re going to make a bad call.   On one hand, the work situation is seriously impactful, but we want to support and protect our relationships and what is important to others.   Where is the line between our work and our life? The truth:    There is no line.   Your work is part of your life.   I think our culture has given us an implied belief that the two don’t mix and we need to cleanly compartmentalize each one, sizing each one appropriately.   That’s like saying “I’m going to ignore my left leg until later today”.   You can’t ignore one part of your life while focusing on another.  We spend as much, if not more, of our time working than any other thing we do, including sleep.  If that isn’t evidence that it’s your life, I can’t think of anything else to convince you.   If we were to start looking at our career as a true extension of ourselves and not something we do self-esteem, then perhaps this will come into greater clarity.  But for some reason, we try to think of work as the unruly appendage we have to deal with on its own. We should be as passionate about our work as we are about getting married, having a baby or buying a new car.   Just as any one of those things impacts your life in many positive ways, so does your career.   It doesn’t JUST pay the bills â€" it gives you meaning and drive.   When a person is fully realized professionally, their self-esteem is in great shape and their ability to engage in healthy relationships and community contributions simply soar. The bigger question:  How do you prioritize your professional and personal needs without leaving a trail of debris?    Consider these solutions to common challenges: Understand the top priorities. Sometimes we make too many things a #1 priority, when in fact, they really aren’t. Get clear about the critical things. Understand that this is an ongoing process. People often get discouraged when they feel like they just made some decisions and now they are making them again. Life has changed.   Understand that nothing but change is a constant.   Cool your jets; relax and enjoy the change. Communicate with your immediate loved ones about their needs. Whether it is aging parents, high school kids or a loving spouse, don’t assume you know their level of flexibility for making changes.   Even attitudes change. Look for creative alternatives. All too often I have seen people be at a point where they thought they were between a rock and a hard place and they failed to see that there were other alternatives.   Once they did see alternatives, they immediately saw a vast field of opportunities for more priorities to be satisfied. Consider timing the priorities. We tend to be impatient to have everything now. Sometimes if we simply delay one priority for another, most needs get met with timing. Be willing to make the tough decision. At the end of the day, there may come a point where you can’t have all work and life priorities work out neatly.   But no matter which way you go, be fully committed to the decision made.   As the saying goes, there are no bad decisions; there are simply good or bad ways to react to the results.   Make the best of it, because life will change again and perhaps open up the thing you just had to cancel. Your work is one part of your life.   Life requires ongoing decision-making to juggle all the parts of it that we hold so dear â€" including work. Go to top Bottom-line â€" I want to help you accelerate your career â€" to achieve what you want by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my 4 Building Blocks to Relationships eBookâ€" the backbone to your Networking success and fantastic work relationships.  Grab yours by visiting here right now! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer

Algebra Homework Help

Algebra Homework Help The transition from simple arithmetic to the abstract concepts of algebra is sometimes difficult for students. Tutor Pace offers the perfect online algebra homework help for students who have got lost in a sea of equations. It is just like the fear of the unknown, some people get overawed by the x and y insertions into simple equations. Tutor Pace introduces a patient approach to the teaching of Algebra through tutors who are experts in the subject. Algebra homework Help tutorials rely on first finding out the concepts that students understand and then identifying the holes in their learning. An interactive session with the student and parents is necessary to identify the problem. Most students get lost in understanding the basic concepts of algebra. This is where Algebra Homework Help concentrates its teaching skills. Algebra is a language It is natural for students to hesitate in asking relevant but necessary questions in class. Teachers at Tutor Pace first win the confidence of the student through chat and video sessions. Algebra is nothing but a language for expressing mathematical problems in letters of the alphabet. Thus a simple problem like, what is the number which if multiplied by three will be equal to ninety is expressed as 3X=90. The answer will be ninety divided by 3 which is equal to 30 the value of X. This is the simple concept which is gradually expanded by Tutor Pace. This is repeated till a student gets a problem solving confidence at all levels of Algebra. Algebra Homework Help relies a lot on repetition by the Tutor. This is done till the tutor is certain that all concepts are understood by the student. Besides this Tutor Pace has created innovative software which allows students to paste algebra problems in a window and get the complete step by step answers. The student is encouraged to do the problem solving again with pen and paper without copying from the computer screen. This is just like doing work in a class only the teacher here is the online tutor or the answer window of the tutorial. Interactive lessons Tutor Pace has created a remarkable interactive web site where students can analyze equations with the help of graphs. Students fill in different values and see the practical effect of these on curves and columns in a graph. Algebra Homework Help begins to appeal to students who earlier dreaded the idea of completing their assignments. There are thousands of educational sites on the internet but most of them are not bothered about the welfare of the student. These are just money making portals which sometimes charge exorbitant monies for solving simple problems. Tutor Pace only charges the initial fee. There are no hidden costs. The idea is to give Algebra Homework Help to students and make a contribution to the field of education. Parents and students should carefully analyze all the services offered by an online service and the total cost of using these. If the total cost begins to surpass that of a physically present tutor, then it is time to reconsider your options. Reputable internet help Tutor Pace has built up a tremendous reputation over the years and this can be verified by visiting forums on the internet and talking to other students and parents.

The Benefits of Buying a Secondhand Guitar

The Benefits of Buying a Secondhand Guitar Tips For Buying a Used Guitar at the Best Price Possible ChaptersThe Advantages of Choosing a Second-Hand GuitarThe Guitar's Brand and ModelThe Price of a Second-Hand GuitarWhere Can One Buy a Used Guitar?Check the Guitar's General StateTest Out Your New Guitar!A Quick Guide to Buying Other Guitar Equipment SecondhandYou watch that Guns N' Roses concert for the hundredth time and you tell yourself you'd love to play the guitar like them.Okay, but you don't know how to play the guitar!You'd like to start learning and you feel totally capable of learning by ear instead of spending money on private guitar lessons, such as bass guitar lessons  or guitar lessons online.It's out of the question that you walk into the first music store you see and buy a new Stratocaster with flames on it--your budget won't allow that!What if it was possible to find a used guitar without breaking the bank and being sure of its quality? How do you not get ripped off by the person selling you his or her instrument? How do you ensure that the fingerboard is of good q uality, or the headstock is in good condition? How do you ensure that this acoustic electric would actually work if you plugged it into an amp? How do you make sure that the guitar pickups, the humbucker perhaps, works?Well, we'd like to talk about the benefits of looking at second-hand electric guitars, acoustic guitars, and classical guitars. And we'd like you to trust the random guitarists that you are discussing buying from.Ready to start up your career as a guitarist?What price should the guitar be? Here is some advice on how to choose and buy your second hand instrument calmly while discovering the joys of being a rockstar (no guarantee on becoming a rockstar)!LetGo and Wallapop.In all cases, have a look to see if the seller is offering anything with the instrument - hardshell guitar cases for instances - and whether the instrument is stringed or whether you will need to buy new accessories.Think of music schools, too! You'll find ads posted on local music school boards, right near ads for musicians.Check the Guitar's General StateThat's it: you chose your guitar, found your ad, the price is right---and now you have to meet the seller.Make sure the guitar of your dreams is really the guitar of your dreams in real life!If you are a beginner and this is your first purchase, have someone with more experience--like a talented guitarist or music teacher--help if possible.There are three main guitar parts to check before buying your used guitar: the head, the neck, and the body.The HeadCheck the mechanics are not too worn. For this, tune the guitar and play it a little. If it quickly gets out of tune, it may be the result of bad mechanics.Also check that the nut is not cracked. That said, this piece is inexpensive if you have to change it. You can find it for less than 5 USD.The NeckThe handle should be straight and the frets flat and in good condition.  Also check that the heel does not show any trace of glue.Remember to check that the strings do not curl (do you know how much guitar strings cost?)--that is to say they do not touch the frets when you play. If they do touch the frets, either the nut is worn or the handle is damaged due to poor storage. In any case, this is a bad sign - it will affect the intonation and your ability to enjoy techniques like vibrato.The BodyYou can see when the varnish is in good condition. If it's not, you can use it as an element that will allow for price negotiation if there are some scratches present on the guitar, for example. Be careful there are no real cracks or dents in the wood.There is a difference between signs of play wear around the rosette and sound hole and real problems due to unwanted falls and bangs into furniture. Hollow body guitars are delicate - and if they are broken, that's the end.The most important thing is to check that the bridge is well glued to the soundboard. It plays a vital role in how the guitar sounds.If you choose an electric guitar or electro-acoustic guitar, remember to check the status of the microphone and buttons: there should not be any strange or unwanted sounds.Test Out Your New Guitar!Test the guitar to be sure to find the one of your dreams!  Besides the fact that you may find defects whilst playing it, this is the instrument you will spend countless hours with, and you have to be sure it is the perfect one for you!Is the feeling good? Does the sound please you? Do your fingers fit well with it?  Remember to test it in all playing positions: sitting and standing.  How comfortable you will be whilst you play is very important. You will spend many hours on it, and it will depend on how pleasant it is for you to use.Also consider your build: if you have small hands, the guitar size should be 1/2 or 3/4.For sound, ask a more experienced guitarist or guitar teacher for advice if you are not sure.Is the sound good? If it's an electric guitar, does it spit?A Quick Guide to Buying Other Guitar Equipment SecondhandBy the way, you can perhaps nego tiate some accessories with the guitarist seller:a drum machine,a pedal board (with individual reverb, resonator, tremolo, overdrive, synthesizer, mesa boogie, condenser effect pedal)footswitch, fender,a protective film or hard casea charger,a guitar coverguitar amps?It's up to you to see! However, you might want to just buy one of these straight up. As with the musical instrument itself, you might benefit from going second hand. The secondhand market is not all about vintage guitars - that Fender guitar or Gibson acoustic, that Fender American Standard or jazz guitar.Rather, you can get anything you please - and as you long as you use the same shrewdness as you did with your guitar, there is no reason why you can't get a great deal too.A vintage amp might be just the kind of thing you are looking to be thrown into your sale!In conclusion, buy a second-hand guitar! All you need is to check a few important points before the guitar will become an extension of yourself.Now that you hav e all the information necessary, you just have to get started on finding the guitar of your dreams out there in the second-hand market.And if it's your first time strumming your baby, don't forget that we offer guitar lessons everywhere in the U.S.A :-)

5 College Dorm Room Must-Haves

5 College Dorm Room Must-Haves This post is part of our 2017 Back-to-School Series. Throughout the month of August, visit the Varsity Tutors blog for back-to-school advice, tips, and tricks for all ages. Getting ready for college is an adventure that starts before you ever set foot on campus. With academic challenges, new social situations, and maybe even a new city to explore, the last thing you want to worry about is dorm room essentials. College dorm room must-haves can include an alarm clock, ample storage, and a handy first aid kit. And these materials can make adjusting to dorm life much easier. Looking to feel prepared when dorm living begins? Here are five college dorm room must-haves: College dorm room must-have #1: Alarm clock While this might seem like an obvious item to mention, todays college students often forego a physical alarm clock, instead opting for an alarm on their cell phones. However, cell phones are not indestructible, and in case something happens to yours, it helps to be prepared. If youre a particularly heavy sleeper, try setting your alarm to repeat, and move it across the room before you go to bed at night so theres no way you can sleep through the racket. Ring, ring! Whats that? The sound of you being on time for your 8:00 a.m. biology lecture. [RELATED: How to Create Your First College Schedule] College dorm room must-have #2: Power strips and surge protectors Older dorm rooms sometimes undergo multiple renovations over time. Often, this means outlets can be in corners behind doors or furniture. If youre hosting a study party or movie night, you wont regret having easy access to those out-of-reach spots. Having a surge protector means you can charge your electronics with ease, even in your lofted bed or behind your roommates futon. College dorm room must-have #3: Storage seating Dorm rooms can be tight when it comes to space, so its important to utilize every nook and cranny. Furniture stores carry many useful seating pieces that are hollow and can double as a space to store anything from textbooks to scarves and gloves when theyre out of season. Bonus tipfind furniture pieces that are similarly shaped so you can stack them or tuck them out of sight under your bed or a desk when you arent using the extra seating. [RELATED: A Summer Checklist for Incoming College Freshmen] College dorm room must-have #4: First aid kit Dorm living is an adventure, and it comes with its ups and downs. University clinics and healthcare services might not be available 24/7, so it can help to have some emergency medical supplies in your dorm room. When youre feeling down, having a customized first aid kit can hold you over until you can get an appointment with a health professional. Consider keeping these items in your dorm room: Over-the-counter pain medication Antihistamines Cough drops Band-aids You never know when you might need them! College dorm room must-have #5: Shower caddy and bath towels The bathroom is the last place you want to be caught unprepared. Extra bath towels will always come in handy, especially for that day you get caught in the rain on the way home from class or take an impromptu trip to the beach or lake with friends. Make the daily trek from your dorm room to a shared bathroom a little easier by bringing a waterproof shower caddy to organize your shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. When you arent using it, a shower caddy is compact enough to tuck away in your closet. Dorm living doesnt have to be synonymous with living without. These are a few dorm room essentials that will make your life easier as a dorm resident. Your best college self starts with a safe and comfortable living space, so make sure to follow this list to set yourself up for academic success! [RELATED: Things to Know About Living in a College Dorm] Any topics you want to know more about? Let us know! The Varsity Tutors Blog editors love hearing your feedback and opinions. Feel free to email us at blog@varsitytutors.com.

How Much Do Cooking Classes Cost

How Much Do Cooking Classes Cost How Much Do Cooking Tutors Cost? Chapters1. Duration Of Course2. The Qualifications And Experience Of Your Teacher3. The Location Of Your Course4. Other Key Factors To ConsiderExamples Of Cooking SchoolsPrivate tutorsSo, you have your mind set on attending your first course or hiring a cooking tutor to help you to develop some level of practical skill in the kitchen. Now, let's take some time to establish how much your learning experience will set you back, which will be determined by a number of factors.In the same way, you don't tend to find young, successful chefs in their prime taking the time to teach others (other than their staff, of course) because they are simply too focused on their career to look beyond it.High-profile chefs like Gordon Ramsay are often too busy to be able to run cooking classes. Photo credit: BreakingTravelNews on VisualHunt.comThat said, you can find a number of culinary schools set up by the greats, like Rick Stein (as previously mentioned) and Raymond Blanc, which have the chefs' valu es rooted in them. You can find out more about some of these highly-respected cooking schools below. GiovanniCooking Teacher 4.83 (12) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors HalimaCooking Teacher £12/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors HakimCooking Teacher 5.00 (5) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors VincenzoCooking Teacher £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors GinellaCooking Teacher £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ArronCooking Teacher 5.00 (2) £9/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JoshuaCooking Teacher 5.00 (5) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors FlickCooking Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors3. The Location Of Your CourseWhile location shouldn't be too big a factor in the cost of your chosen course, you can expect to pay a premium when attending a class in central London, because naturally everything in the capital is more pricey than outside of the city!When I refer to location, I do al so mean the grounds on which your course will be held. Take for example a course held in a modern college, and one taking place in an 18th century manor house steeped in history. Which do you expect will be a more expensive location?Of course, any place that has welcomed a wealth of famous guests, or has been standing for hundreds of years, will usually lend itself to a nicer setting in which to cook and therefore enable the organisers to charge more.4. Other Key Factors To ConsiderOther things that might have an effect on the price of the course you opt for are whether you get a group deal (some offer a reduction in price if you bring a friend), have coupons or vouchers (if they have spaces to fill, an organisation might advertise places at cut-down prices to lure customers in) and the cost of the food (including refreshments for participants) you will be using whilst on the course to make those delicious recipes on the menu.As all foodies, or anyone who shops for groceries at the supermarket or the local food market for that matter, will know, ingredients don't come cheap! And depending on the class of course you choose to enroll on, you can expect the cost of the ingredients to fluctuate in accordance too.Anyone who has ever done grocery shopping knows how expensive food is! Photo credit: Indiana Stan on Visualhunt.comExamples Of Cooking SchoolsLe Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, OxfordThe cost of a cooking tutorial at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons in Oxford can cost anywhere between £185 (for a half-day intensive session) and £1,775 (for five consecutive days). This cooking school is run by the infamous  Monsieur Raymond Blanc himself and is set in a beautiful manor house, so this is probably on the higher end of the cooking schools spectrum.Llanerch Vineyard, Vale of GlamorganLlanerch Vineyard in Vale of Glamorgan offers prices starting at £25 for a demonstration. The cookery school is run by educator Angela Gray, a chef who has catered for big names like Andr ew Lloyd Webber, and offers a relaxed and informal setting whereby students can learn from the teacher and through interaction with eachother.The Bertinet Kitchen, BathIf you want to be taught by the best but for a smaller outlay than Le Manoir, then why not consider The Bertinet Kitchen in Bath which is run by french dough expert Richard Bertinet and requires a budget of £165 for beginners classes? You will learn about all things bread and pastry here, including pastry arts like how to make a buttery croissant worthy of a French patisserie!Leith's School of Food and Wine, LondonIf money is no object, then Leith’s School of Food and Wine in London is at your disposal with a £21,000+ diploma on offer, achieved over three terms! Past students include the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton herself, the epitome of class. Now there is a course that really is fit for royalty! I bet Kate cooks up a delicious feast for the young prince and princess.Private tutorsPrivate tutors are no different when you take into consideration the above, however they do have the advantage that they can pick and choose how they price their lessons because, ultimately, they are working alone.While this can go against you in some ways (one-to-one lessons can be priced higher because of the value of one-to-one time), it can also work in your favour. For instance, you might be able bring the price down a little if consulting a self-employed tutor, or you might be able to discuss reductions for blocks of lessons.Other benefits to hiring a private tutor are the flexibility they offer. In most cases, you will be welcomed into their kitchen where they will show you a range of cooking skills on display, but you might find a tutor who is happy to come and teach you at your home.You might attend a cooking demonstration at your tutor's house or they may come to your own home. Photo credit: tracie7779 on VisualhuntFurthermore, with one-to-one lessons, you can fit classes in around your busy sc hedule which means you don't have to miss out on doing something you love just because you work long hours. For instance, you might be able to book tuition on a weekend or on a weekday evening, which is something that you can look forward to while you are hard at work!When searching for tutors online, you will more than likely find a pretty expansive range (as much as £9p/h-90p/h!), which makes it hard to ascertain what the average price of a beginner cooking lesson is. Sadly, it is very difficult to narrow this down to a specific price range, because of all of the above elements that come into play.The key is to set out a realistic price in your head and start your search for a tutor with this firmly in place. You know what you can afford and what you can't, so rule out any tutors that come above (or fall below) your expected outlay. However, never forget that you do pay for the best, so if you find the perfect tutor who is just outside of your range, then consider stretching that little bit further for a richer experience in return.When it comes to the content, you can expect to learn a wide range of fundamental things from your cooking lessons, like the difference between vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian and traditional diets, what artisan bakery is, the flavours of authentic Thai cooking, the secrets of French cuisine, the art of cooking Italian cuisine, how to make next level Italian dishes, what cookware you should have in your home cooking space, how to prep vegetables, how to prepare a chicken, grilling meats, what makes a perfect British roast, the technique for making a garlicky cordon blue, how to bake a melting chocolate fondant, how to pack flavour in a broth and how to make sushi, for example. That's date night or those weeknight meals  sorted then!Your guide may be able to teach you some things you never knew about the hospitality management industry too, like how you should ideally wear closed toe shoes when using a knife and cutting board in ca se of any accidents, and the terms that the chef uses to communicate with his or her staff. This includes words like 'pass', 'oui chef' and 'chit'.Find cooking classes near me with a private tutor:Cooking classes LondonCooking classes GlasgowCooking classes ManchesterCooking classes Leeds

How to use emotional intelligence to maximize your introverted nature - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / How to use emotional intelligence to maximize your introverted nature - Introvert Whisperer How to use emotional intelligence to maximize your introverted nature By now, as someone who identifies as an introvert, you will most likely have identified some of the strengths you share and challenges you face alongside other introverts. Introverts have a special talent to slow down the pace of thought and think through propositions calmly and rationally before reacting, to listen to the ideas of others and take them somewhere new, and to enjoy the intimacy of developing projects by yourself or in a one-to-one situation. However, it is not unlikely that you are sick of being misunderstood or labeled as ‘anti-social’, of being pressured into group meetings, or expected to ping ideas back and forth before you’ve had a chance to think them through. Well, just because you have the thoughtful metabolism of an introvert, it doesn’t mean your emotional intelligence (EQ) couldn’t be a little more finely tuned to help you make the most of your unique skills and to navigate troubled waters. EQ refers to the ability to detect your own emotions and those of others, to process and manage them, and ultimately to utilize them for the better. Applying EQ techniques to situations you find yourself in as an introvert can help you to emerge from them fulfilled and productive, and to counteract and resolve the misapprehension of others towards your way of doing things. For example, when you’re in a meeting and you get that sinking feeling of seeing a colleague’s disappointment that you don’t yet have anything to add to the conversation, look at your emotions. Are they helping you? No. So you know you need to take steps to make future situations run more smoothly. And look at your colleague’s emotions. What do they see when they look at you? What else is going on in their work day to make them frustrated? Identifying the misunderstanding between the pair of you can empower you to speak to them alone later, resolve the issue, and set a  firmer groundwork for how you can operate together in future. For more ideas on how to harness the power of your emotional intelligence, check out this new visual guide from NetCredit. Being an introvert may mean you are closer to your emotions, but without deeper study, you may never understand them!

How Children Succeed Part three

How Children Succeed Part three Improving Academic Performance In part two of our introduction to How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character we explored the cognitive hypothesis, which suggests that success today depends primarily on cognitive skills (e.g., reading, writing, recognizing patterns, calculating, etc.) the type of intelligence that gets tested on IQ or standardized tests, and that the best way to build these skills is to practice them as early and often as possible. In part three, we’ll explore one of the major themes of the book, which is that “character,” and more specifically “performance character” is the more fundamental driver of success, and it too can be nurtured and developed. Tough believes society has gotten significantly off track, focusing too much on building a narrow set of cognitive skills and abilities, and taking a misguided approach to teaching children how to build all-important “character” skills. As such, he finishes his introductory chapter by sharing two examples of the type of research that supports the notion that character, not cognitive skills, should be considered of primary importance as we educate children. First, he introduces a University of Chicago economist named James Heckman, who won a Nobel Prize in economics in 2000 for developing a new statistics methodology for understanding the economy. Heckman, buoyed by his academic pedigree, pivoted in the mid 2000s from a pure focus on economics, toward understanding education and social issues. Most relevant for Tough’s book and research, is Heckman’s analysis of the GED test. It turns out that the GED program (General Education Development program), which administers a test high school dropouts can take to indicate they have the same academic skills of a high school graduate, has proven to be a useful tool for understanding the importance of character attributes. The GED was supposed to be a test that “leveled the academic playing field,” allowing children born into poverty and difficult circumstances to pass one single test that demonstrated they were ready for college. Heckman has found that, in fact, in many ways a GED holder is exactly like a typical high school graduate. By comparing the two groups (GED holders and regular graduates of high school) Heckman found that the GED holder performs similarly on standardized tests like the ACT and SAT, and has a similar IQ. However, when it comes to graduating from college, the GED holder is absolutely nothing like the typical high school graduate. Whereas 46% of high school graduates are enrolled or graduated from college by age 22, only 3% of GED holders are still in or graduated from college at that age. What Heckman found is that the GED in fact separates “bright but non-persistent and undisciplined dropouts from other dropouts.” Because the average GED holder is not good at staying focused on a long-term goal, planning ahead, or adapting to their environment (the types of things one must do to successfully get through high school), they tend to be unable to succeed in college. Tough notes that what Heckman’s research doesn’t address is whether and how character attributes such as persistence, grit, curiosity, etc. can really be taught. He then introduces a student, who is discussed later in the book, Kewauna Lerma, who was born into a very difficult and disruptive family situation. Through her freshman year of high school, she was on her way to dropping out. But, he describes how, during her sophomore year (after a series of discussions with teachers, grandparents, etc.), she completely turns her life around, and ultimately graduates from high school, and is accepted to college. He wraps up his introduction by reinforcing that this book is going to be all about understanding on a deep, personal level how character attributes enabled Kewauna Lerma to turn her life around, and on a macro societal level, understanding how a whole generation of children can be steered towards success and away from failure. Initial Review and Analysis This is a powerful book. The main theme, that academic success comes from character traits like grit and curiosity and not necessarily proficiency in math, reading, and writing, is counterintuitive and somewhat inspirational, regardless of whether it’s 100%, 75%, or 50% accurate. My personal view is that it’s much more true than false. Certainly, some people seem to be blessed with high IQs that help them succeed academically with a bit less effort than others, and you can also find examples of students that seem to excel in school as a direct result of lots of early “drilling” on reading, writing, counting, etc. by their parents. There are some good reasons why the cognitive hypothesis seems to be society’s current default belief about how to best educate children. But, I think as a general rule, the average person observes someone who is successful academically without truly “seeing” the hours and hours of self-directed hard work that lies behind that success. They can’t see the “persistence” and “grit” that enabled the person to build their skills, and instead attribute their success to a high IQ or natural ability. Where I think the book falls short a bit is around discussing the “how” of building character on an individual level. The book explores various theories, and the people and organizations that are testing those theories, for how to build character. But often, the discussion is at a relatively high level, and is very focused on the relationship between poverty and academic performance as a societal issue. Had an attempt been made at articulating a clear “top ten strategies for building performance character attributes” in yourself or your child, I would have found it even more valuable. In fact, this is something I’ll attempt to write about in future blog articles. That said, it is powerful in and of itself to convince yourself that grit and persistence, not intelligence, drive success. Once internalized, this notion compels you to encourage yourself, your students, or your children to focus on building character skills and displaying grit, instead of assuming that something is hard because they “just aren’t good at math,” or whatever the subject or activity may be.