Fall is a time for high anxiety for many high school students who are busy preparing college applications. Speakers like Lauren Salamone, author of 5 Must-Know Secrets for Today’s College Girl, offers students guidelines to get the most out of the college experience. Salamone spoke to a handful of individuals gathered at the Secaucus Public Library on Oct. 13.
Her presentation relied on new age discourse, visualization exercises, and personal stories to explain the five secrets to success. She led the audience through a series of PowerPoint slides with key messages and images.
“You and you alone will determine the results,” said Salamone regarding the college experience.
What makes you unique?
She asked the audience to think about their intentions for college at the beginning of the talk and explored the various reasons students choose to go to college.
She emphasized the importance of having a clarity of purpose and gave examples of how individuals could determine their core strengths in choosing a career path.
Salamone said that factors like financial stress, finding friends, and staying motivated often interfere with clarity of purpose.
“If you aren’t going after a dream that excites you, then you are going to have a tough time staying motivated in college,” – Lauren Salamone
____________
She described the concept of a magic wand that students could tap into to unleash their inner power.
“Once you have the five secrets and once you know how the magic wand works that is an action you can take to call upon whenever you need it.”
She said that students should look inside in readying themselves to use college to create their ideal life.
“You need to know what makes you unique,” said Salamone.
Salamone told the audience to use the magic wand to see their unique qualities. She used the image of a star with five points to represent the five secrets. Each point of the star was labeled with words like instinct, strength, body, soul, and mind.
Going after your passion
Salamone described her background and how she figured out what she was meant to be doing after she left work in marketing and advertising to pursue education. She described her own self discoveries as a child about what she enjoyed doing and what made her happy.
Salamone highlighted three different levels of happiness to measure a dream against and determine if it is the right one for you.
“Only twenty percent of the population is passionate about what they do for a living,” said Salamone.
“If you aren’t going after a dream that excites you, then you are going to have a tough time staying motivated in college.”
Salamone quoted the late Steve Jobs who said, “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
During the presentation, Salamone showed a video of famous, successful individuals who had failed at one point in their lives such as Michael Jordan, Thomas Edison, and Abraham Lincoln. While the author mentors young women, her presentation relied heavily on male role models as examples of success.
Finding a support system
“For some reason, many students when they get to college decide they are going to do everything on their own,” said Salamone. She provided a list of a number of resources students could turn to for support throughout college.
She also challenged the audience to step outside of their comfort zone. She ended her talk by discussing her mentorship services for prospective college students.
Members of the audience shared positive feedback with the speaker and were impressed with her presentation. One audience member asked if she had a similar program for males. Another audience member valued the message about loving what you do.
Salamone refers to herself as the “College Guidance Guru.” She gives presentations, workshops, guided inspirations, and mentoring services.
Adriana Rambay Fernández may be reached at afernandez@hudsonreporter.com.