In honor of Mother’s Day, I am reposting The Pennsylvania Conference for Women‘s e-mail message that quotes what women have said about their moms as role models — like the one at left. The Pennsylvania Conference for Women is the largest women’s conference in the state.  It is scheduled for Tuesday, October 29 in Philadelphia. Here are quotes from the website:

How was/is your mother a role model for your career?

My mom’s mantra was “make yourself indispensable” (i.e. do whatever’s needed, not just what you think you should be doing).

My mom always told us to do what makes us happy.

My mom had her own alteration business in 1948 before (and after) she got married. She taught me to be independent and not to settle – whip up a dress and a fabulous meal too.

My mom was a stay-at-home mom but also sold Tupperware and Avon. She had such a beautiful light about her, and people were drawn to her smile. I realized having positive energy and a good smile goes a long way.

Funny you should ask. I am a communications trainer and I reference her years in the banking industry all the time. I learned so much from her about how to treat people, how to be a true professional, and how to be a working mom. I am indebted to her entire generation of women who blazed a path for me and the women of my generation. I hope to do the same for my girls.

My mom didn’t have a high school diploma; she worked in sewing factories, long, hard hours for low wages, also waitressing. She inspired me to get an education so that I could earn a better life. I am grateful.

She told me to invent a product, I did, and millions of sales later I have her to thank!

Growing up, my sister and I witnessed my mother (a single parent) struggle and work long hours as a waitress. After many years she had enough and decided to better herself and her family by going back to school for nursing. While going to school full-time and working (and being a single parent was an even harder struggle), she graduated and has been a nurse for well over 10 years now. I am extremely proud of her hard work and dedication. Her persistence has taught me to succeed in everything I do. I would not be where I am in my career today if it were not for my mother.

My mom modeled communication, she took us to campaign, community, church…taught us to prioritize a balanced life…our God, our family, our community.

My mother started “take your daughter to work day” with two other women. She has paved the way for so many women scientists and inspired me to be a business owner. She’s my hero.

My mother owned a public relations company in the ’60s. She was very successful and always told me I had to find a career that I loved so that I would never have to depend on anyone else.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom of three and step grandmom of one.

Psychiatrist Gary Malone — a former student athlete — reminds parents of middle-school and high-school athletes to chill before we push too hard toward college athletics and scholarships. He reminds all parents of these critical numbers:

• Only 3 percent of high school athletes will go on to compete in college

• Less than 1 percent of college athletes turn pro, where the average career is three years

• Don’t become obsessed with one child’s athletic career at the expense of the other kids in the family. 

A distinguished fellow in the American Psychiatric Association and high-performing student-athlete throughout his own high school and college years, Malone says he appreciates the benefits of extracurricular programs. “Athletics can be extremely beneficial to a young person’s life, but I think we have our priorities backwards,” Malone says. “Imagine how much better off our country might be if, instead of football, we were obsessed with our children’s performance in science and math. In my home state, Texas, a new high school football stadium is opening that cost $60 million dollars and seats 18,000. That’s all funded at public expense. We constantly read of districts across the country cutting academic and arts programs and teachers’ salaries due to budget shortfalls. How can this make sense?”

It’s great when kids want to compete at the collegiate level and even better if they get $$ to do it, but not all kids are cut out for that life. As parents, we need to appreciate that sentiment because in the end, kids need a career when school is done.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom to three and step-grandmom to one.

Jim Martin of the Erie Times-News tweeted an interesting story about college debt this morning that appeared in the Washington Post. Read it here.

Written by Melissa M. Horton, a deep-in-debt college grad, it is a frightening reality of what a lot of kids face. She is $100,000 in debt. She laments choices her parents made, choices she made and discusses Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-Mich.) proposed Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012.

She says “Clarke’s bill proposes forgiving as much as $45,520 of eligible student-loan debt after new borrowers have made 120 payments — equivalent to 10 percent of their discretionary income for 10 years — or would forgive any outstanding debt for those whose loans predate enactment if the borrower has already made 120 payments in the past 10 years. Even better, the forgiven amount will not count as income, so debtors need not fear paying higher income taxes for 2012.”

I don’t agree with a lot of the writer’s opinions, but she makes some excellent points. The bottom line is debt is excessive for many college graduates. The interest rates that kids are paying on personal college loans is much higher than any mortgage loan. If you have kids headed to college or in college, don’t let your babies grow up to be so deep in debt. What we’ve learned with six adult kids:

• All of our kids are in debt, but three out of four graduates spent at least a year or two living at home to save room and board money — that’s thousands. Yes that means they can’t go across the country to pursue a dream. I’m not knocking the dream, but only two kids really were focused enough to know what they wanted to do for life. Indecision is costly in college.
• All kids worked through college. It’s critical for spending money. Don’t borrow basic living expenses.
• Get advice from a professional who can help you figure out what to do financially before your start the loan process. Pay a financial adviser who specializes in  college financing. Not just finances — college finances.
• Don’t bank on a brainiac or athletic scholarship. We have athletes and we have brainiacs. Regardless of how smart or athletic your child is, college is not free.
• Not every kid needs a college education. Some career schools offer one- to two-year programs that result in very specific jobs. Employers are begging for some positions, particularly in health care.

Stay positive. Support your teen’s dream but have a plan B and C. Two of our graduates changed majors more than once. Not everyone knows what they really want at age 18. Be prepared and be supportive, but be realistic.

If your kid has an affinity for math, choosing to study accounting and taxes could add up to a pretty good career. An article on AOL.com says tax season alone offers some pretty good opportunities. Read it here. There’s more: The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 16 percent increase in accounting jobs by 2016. That’s just a four-year degree away if your teen is heading off to college in the fall. Read the details here.

Some kids might think it sounds like a boring career path, but think again. Careers in research and other areas all need numbers folks. Let’s face it, every company needs an accounting staff.

Salaries are good too. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) 2012 survey says 2011 accounting graduates earned an average of $50,500 a year. Read the article here and read the report here.

We’ve got one accountant in the family. We count on her for financial advice.

If you have kids looking at colleges, then you know the word FAFSA. It stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. If you want more information, go to www.fafsa.ed.gov.

There are a lot of FAFSA sites, but don’t start filling in your information anywhere but http://www.fafsaonline.com/fafsa-form/. Other sites charge a fee and waste your time. And it’s a lot of work.

My husband and I have been doing FAFSAs for 8 years for 6 kids. And I’m not done yet. I am about to start my son’s for 2012 – 2013. I’ll share tips with you.

The first big one is before you go nuts on this, figure out your net worth — not including your retirement investments. Most average earners can count that as a zero. You’ll need your current tax forms too.  You can estimate, but you’ll have to do the whole thing over again with figures. Another tip: never leave blanks — ever.

Here is a site that gives you some tips on how to fill FAFSA out. http://www.fafsaonline.com/fafsa-form/ — it is one of the few that I found really helpful. Stay tuned for more tips as I get started on my umpteenth FAFSA!

We need mathematicians and scientists in this country and we need to start growing them now. Why? According to numerous reports in U.S. News and World Report and other national rags, not even half of our country’s high school graduates are prepared for college-level math or science.

That’s just not good enough for us parents.

What happened to the geeks? And why aren’t we doing something about it? A few years ago, my son graduated from high school with at least four cooking classes under his belt. My daughter had innumerable art classes. Aren’t a few of those classes enough? I’m frustrated because we are still graduating students who don’t know how to balance a checkbook and what interest rates mean. Graduates don’t need to cook or draw pictures if they can’t figure out how to pay the rent and utilities.

My kids loved both math and science and we found games – lots of games – that encouraged those skills. Here are 100 ways to get your kids into math and science and make it fun. Do it now. Physics can be fun if it starts as play.

We need to grow the next crop of Einsteins. Click on any of the links above, and get started!