Amidst the fear, frustration and disappointment this past month in the wake of COVID-19, what has brought me a lot of smiles has been the excitement of my students as their college acceptance letters came in. They remind me that the future is still out there. As you all study to become medical researchers, engineers, psychologists, neuroscientists, biologists, physicists, educators, medical personnel and diplomats, think of all the positive impact you can have on our world.

Congratulations Class of 2020! 

#college #staypositive 

We’re all passing around as much good cheer as possible during the COVID-19 crisis, and my favorite so far has been the Berklee School of Music’s version of “What the World Needs Now.” The minute I heard this stellar virtual orchestration of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s 1965 hit, I recalled that ABC Sports used this song in their pre-Olympic telecast for the 1972 Summer Games in Munich, West Germany.

As recounted by producer/director Doug Wilson in our book The World Was Our Stage: ​

​Jim McKay, the iconic host of ABC’s Wide World of Sports and Olympic telecasts, aptly referred to the Olympic Games as a town meeting of the world. The ABC Sports team had been preparing for this telecast for years, and as our plane approached Munich, I thought about the first time I had flown in to the city. It was eight years earlier on my way to the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. The man sitting next to me, who had fought in World War II, reminded me that the Munich airfield was once the site of Luftwaffe Headquarters. Now I was landing at their headquarters! I looked at the buildings through the eyes of my boyhood. Pockmarks still etched the walls from Allied shelling, and as I entered the terminal, my fellow passenger remarked that the last time he had entered the space, ammunition crates were packed from floor to ceiling. I truly felt scared.

The first German I encountered was a customs officer in a dark gray uniform with a high-brimmed military-style cap. He looked like a Gestapo officer. Then I spotted a sign that said “Trink Coca Cola,” and the sight of that American trademark relaxed me a little and reminded me it was 1964, not 1945.

In 1972, much of Europe still had a militaristic, post-war feel to it. The Iron Curtain was still standing strong, and it would be another seventeen years before the Berlin Wall would fall. The memories of Nazi Germany still lingered. The West Germans, who landed on the free side of divided, post-war Germany, were keenly aware of this sensitivity. They wanted to set a tone completely opposite of the very militaristic one set in 1936, when Chancellor Adolph Hitler used the Berlin Summer Games as a world stage to showcase the supremacy of his “Master Race.”

The Olympic Games in Munich Begin

For the Munich Games, the West Germans were dedicated to creating an atmosphere of peace, tranquility, and healthy competition in hope of recasting themselves and their country in the eyes of the world. Their official symbol was a bold, graphic sun design representing light, freshness, and generosity. Their official mascot was Waldi, a harmless multicolored dachshund—a breed with an image that couldn’t be more opposite of the German shepherd, Hitler’s canine preference. The official motto was “The Happy Games,” and the Dove of Peace was seen on posters throughout the city.

​The Munich Games Take a Tragic Turn

We all know the tragedy that unfolded during the second week of the Games, when eleven members of the Israeli team were taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists and killed in what became known as the Munich Massacre. Then, as now, what the world needs now, is love sweet love.

Read more about the Munich Games and producer/director Doug Wilson’s 50-year career with ABC Sports in his book, The World Was Our Stage: Spanning the Glob with ABC Sports. ​#Sportsbooks #whattheworldneedsnow

​Below is a link to an article/podcast from NPR that talks about how to pick your college during the coronavirus outbreak, from financial aid tips in case your family’s financial situation has changed to a link you can use to decode college aid letters.

The article also points out that a lot of universities have put their campus tours online, with virtual tour guides or chat availability. Such access is great regardless, because not all students can afford to travel to visit their prospective colleges. 



​Link to NPR Article and Podcast

​This blog was such a valuable tool for my students last year, I'm re-posting it this year.

Congratulations--You've Got Several Acceptances!

College acceptance letters have arrived and now you wonder how to make the big decision. To those of you who got the nod from your dream school, the next step is easy; but for the rest of you, this important decision can be overwhelming. You also don't have the advantage of Accepted Students Days this year in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic, but do visit the websites of your schools as many have added videos and virtual admission activities to help you evaluate your schools. 

The college selection process reminds me of my year-end task of selecting a medical insurance policy. Not only do I have several plans to choose from, I also have a long list of benefits to consider, not to mention the fact that I really have no idea what my medical needs will be in the coming year.
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How do I sort through it all? Call Dad, of course. As a retired engineer, he’s good at crunching numbers and evaluating these kinds of things. Last year, he suggested I employ an old Air Force method whereby I would score each plan’s list of benefits. I had narrowed down to two plans, so I cleared off the dining table and laid the lists—which went on for pages—side by side. I then went down the columns and assigned a score to each benefit, either a 0 or a 1, 1 going to the plan with the superior identical or similar benefit. If a specific benefit had equal value in both plans, each plan scored a 0. I also gave more weight to the more important benefits by using a score of 1*.  In the end, I tallied up the score and the plan with the most points and weight won.

What Do You Want from Your College Experience?

Try this scoring method to select your college. First, create a list of what you want from your undergraduate experience. Your factors might include major, minor, specialized academic programs, internship opportunities, location, certain professors, research being conducted at the university, weather, size, cost, scholarship, housing, transportation costs to/from school, family or friends nearby, college town, Division I football, fraternities and sororities, marching band, ski team—whatever is of importance to you.

If you’re a pre-med student, does the college have an affiliation with a local hospital or research institution? If you’re a computer science major, does the school have an internship program at a nearby technology company? A school might have a dual-major program of interest to you like engineering and economics or education and music. If you want to live and work in a certain city after college, then location might be a weighted factor for you in that you can start to establish yourself in that city.

Create a Spreadsheet 

Whatever your parameters, create a spreadsheet with your schools in the top row and your factors in the first column. Then start scoring. Give more weight to items that are of more importance to you. If you are deciding between two schools, the 0/1/1* system will work (you could also use 2 for the weighted score, but I liked seeing the total the number of weighted benefits when I was evaluating medical plans).  If you have more schools, you might need to expand your scale. With three schools, try using 0/1/2/2*.  Expand your scale further if necessary. Once you isolate your final two schools, start over with the 0/1/1* for a true head-to-head comparison.

Do your parents want you to go to one college and you want to go elsewhere? Sharing your score sheet with mom and dad can help you demonstrate to them why your pick is the best choice for you.
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When I employed this method to choose my medical insurance policy, there was a hands-down winner. So clear through the confusion with this simple method.  Once you choose your school, don’t look back. Look forward. The truth is, what becomes of your four years in college has more to do with your attitude than anything. I grew up in Los Angeles and always wanted to go away for college. But one of the best schools in the country for what I wanted to study was right in my backyard. Though only six miles away, UCLA was a whole new world. I lived on campus and took advantage of all the school had to offer. No regrets. So, pick your school for the right reasons and commit to it. When you arrive on campus, don’t just go to class, explore and get involved. Make your college the experience you seek.