4 Ways Your Teenager’s Love of Crochet or Knitting Can Help with College Life

If you’re a longtime reader of Underground Crafter, you may know that I don’t actually crochet and knit full time (though who wouldn’t want to??). One of the many things I do in the rest of my life (besides all the boring stuff like laundry) is work with a nearby non-profit organization, Policy Studies in Education (PSE). I first met Regina Paul from PSE back in 2008, and since then we’ve worked together on a variety of projects and jobs.

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Last year, Regina and I started a podcast together, NYCollegeChat. (If you’re a parent of a college-bound high school student, give it a listen! It’s free and full of helpful information each week.) After working on the podcast for about 9 months, we decided to write a book together: How To Find the Right College: A Workbook for Parents of Teenagers. The book just came out in paperback a few weeks ago, and we are doing a virtual tour to spread the word about it.

It only seemed fitting that one of the stops on this virtual tour would be Underground Crafter, since I know that quite a few of my regular readers have teenage children. But, I didn’t want this to be just any old post about college – I had to give it a crafty spin. I’ll also be giving away a copy of the book to one lucky reader, so read on for more details.

4 Ways Your Teenager’s Love of Crochet or Knitting Can Help with College Life

4 Ways Your Teenager’s Love of Crochet or Knitting Can Help with College Life | How To Find the Right College blog tour on Underground Crafter1) Your teenager can share her/his passion for crafts in the college admissions process.

If your high schooler is posting amazing projects on Ravelry, blogging about crochet or knitting, organizing charity mitten drives, or is otherwise thinking about yarn crafts most of the day, consider sharing this information as part of the college admissions process.

S/he might consider writing a college application essay (or “personal statement”) describing how tackling a challenging project taught patience and developed new skills. Those charity activities can be listed as volunteer experiences. If your child has self-published patterns or tutorials or taught other people to crochet or knit, help him or her think through how to include that information in the college application.

2) Your teenager can use crochet and knitting for stress relief.

As most crocheters and knitters know from their own experience, there are health benefits of crocheting and knitting, including reducing depression and anxiety, building self-esteem, and relieving stress. If you think the college application process is stressful, just think of the challenges your teen will face in college! Your teen can rely on crochet and knitting as a constant during a transitional time in his/her young adult life. (As a parent, you may also want to rely on your crochet and knitting when your teen is stressing you out!)

3) Your teenager can make friends and socialize through crochet and knitting.

These hobbies are great ways for your teen to socialize without a focus on alcohol. Many colleges have recognized the benefits of including crafts in student activities, including Kenyon College (read more about the Craft Center, which offers low cost classes to the Kenyon community, here), New York University (learn about the Naughty Knitters, who craft for charity, here), and Tufts University (learn more about the student-run Crafts Center and the residential Crafts House here).

4) Your teenager can study fashion design, textile arts, or a related field.

In some cases, your teen’s love of crochet or knitting may be so strong that it is actually a career interest. In that case, s/he can use some of the projects made during high school as part of the required portfolio for applying to a specialized arts or fashion program.

4 Ways Your Teenager’s Love of Crochet or Knitting Can Help with College Life | How To Find the Right College blog tour on Underground CrafterGiveaway

How To Find the Right College is now available as a Kindle ebook or as a paperback workbook. I’m happy to offer one lucky reader a print copy of How To Find the Right College, courtesy of Policy Studies in Education.

To enter the giveaway, share a question or concern about guiding your teen through the “college application process” in the comments by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Monday, November 30, 2015. One winner will be chosen at random from the entries submitted via the Rafflecopter widget. This giveaway is open worldwide except where prohibited by law.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can also visit the other stops on the virtual tour, many of which are also offering giveaways for the book. Good luck!

How To Find the Right College Blog Tour Schedule

November 2: ParentChat with Regina

November 4: The College Money Maze

November 5: Parents’ Guide to the College Puzzle

November 6: Mission: Authors Talk About It

November 11: Together with Family

November 12: NYCollegeChat

November 13: The Staten Island Family

November 16: Road2College

November 18: Viva Fifty

November 19: Paying For College 101 Facebook group

November 20: Underground Crafter

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