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Image for event: Virtual Author Talk Viewing Party

Registration now closed

Virtual Author Talk Viewing Party

Irena Smith, PhD

2024-08-15 14:00:00 2024-08-15 15:00:00 America/New_York Virtual Author Talk Viewing Party Join Irena Smith, PhD as she gives tips on how to help your child approach the college application process. The viewing party of this virtual event will take place at the Warren Township Branch. Warren Township branch - Meeting Room

Thursday, August 15
2:00pm - 3:00pm

Add to Calendar 2024-08-15 14:00:00 2024-08-15 15:00:00 America/New_York Virtual Author Talk Viewing Party Join Irena Smith, PhD as she gives tips on how to help your child approach the college application process. The viewing party of this virtual event will take place at the Warren Township Branch. Warren Township branch - Meeting Room

Warren Township branch

Meeting Room

Join Irena Smith, PhD as she gives tips on how to help your child approach the college application process. The viewing party of this virtual event will take place at the Warren Township Branch.

This program is also being held virtually: https://sclsnj.libnet.info/event/10889208

Another college application season is around the corner, and stress is already beginning to ratchet up for teens and their parents. You’re invited to join us for this must-watch talk by Irena Smith, PhD. You will hear about constructive and healthy ways to approach the college application process, preserve your relationship with your teen, and help them define success on their terms instead of chasing the elusive “golden ticket.”

Irena is a former Stanford Admissions Officer who has spent eighteen years advising accomplished, tightly wound students in Palo Alto and around the world. She saw firsthand the extreme measures parents took to help their children gain admission to highly selective colleges and the toll it took on the children as well as on their parents.

At the same time, Irena’s own children struggled with developmental delays, learning differences, severe depression, and anxiety. She kept her double life—successful college counselor at work, anxious mom at home—tightly under wraps for years until a stunning realization: she was exactly like the anxious parents of the students she worked with, all of whom were equally terrified about their children's future. Irena’s memoir, "The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays", which candidly explores her personal as well as professional life, was published in 2023, and she has since devoted her time to speaking out about hard things: the heavy burden of generational expectations, teen and young adult mental health, and the importance of embracing a broader, more generous vision of what it means to succeed. 

About the Author: Irena Smith is an author, former Stanford admissions officer, independent college counselor, and mother of three extraordinary children. She emigrated from the former Soviet Union with her parents when she was nine years old. In spite of her fierce insistence that she would never, not ever, learn English, she went on to earn a BA in English and then a PhD in Comparative Literature (both from UCLA, where she received a Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award and Dissertation Year Fellowship). Irena taught literature and composition at UCLA and Stanford before transitioning to college admissions, college advising, and writing. Her recently published memoir, "The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays" is the winner of the Story Circle Network's Gilda Award, named in honor of comedian Gilda Radner to recognize honest, authentic writing that "makes us laugh even when we want to cry." It's been described by Forbes as “captivating and smart… a potential antidote to the fevered belief that being admitted to an elite college will spell the difference between a successful life vs. a doomed future.” 

This program is brought to you in partnership with the Library Speakers Consortium, which provides access to a range of talks from bestselling authors and thought leaders.

AGE GROUP: | Adult |

EVENT TYPE: | Author Talk |

TAGS: | |

Warren Township branch

warrentownship@sclibnj.org
Phone: 908-458-8450

Hours
Mon, Jan 13 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Tue, Jan 14 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Wed, Jan 15 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Thu, Jan 16 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Fri, Jan 17 10:00AM to 6:00PM
Sat, Jan 18 10:00AM to 6:00PM
Sun, Jan 19 1:00PM to 5:00PM

Upcoming events

Thu, Jan 16, 10:30am - 11:00am
Program Room - (Children)

Thu, Jan 16, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Meeting Room

Thu, Jan 16, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Program Room - (Children)

Sat, Jan 18, 11:00am - 2:00pm
Program Room - (Children)

Tue, Jan 21, 10:30am - 11:00am
Program Room - (Children)

Tue, Jan 21, 1:30pm - 2:00pm
Meeting Room

Wed, Jan 22, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Meeting Room

Wed, Jan 22, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
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Thu, Jan 23, 10:30am - 11:00am
Program Room - (Children)

Thu, Jan 23, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
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Thu, Jan 23, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
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Fri, Jan 24, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Meeting Room

Sat, Jan 25, 11:00am - 12:00pm
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Mon, Jan 27, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
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This event is full

Tue, Jan 28, 10:30am - 11:00am
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Tue, Jan 28, 1:30pm - 2:00pm
Meeting Room

Tue, Jan 28, 4:30pm - 5:30pm
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Thu, Jan 30, 10:30am - 11:00am
Program Room - (Children)

Thu, Jan 30, 2:00pm - 5:00pm
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Mon, Feb 03, 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Program Room - (Children)

Tue, Feb 04, 10:30am - 11:00am
Program Room - (Children)

Tue, Feb 04, 1:30pm - 2:30pm
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Tue, Feb 04, 6:30pm - 7:00pm
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Thu, Feb 06, 10:30am - 11:00am
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Registration opens Thursday, January 16 2025 at 9:00am

Thu, Feb 06, 11:00am - 12:00pm
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Cancelled
Thu, Feb 06, 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Sat, Feb 08, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Program Room - (Children)
Registration opens Saturday, January 18 2025 at 10:00am

Mon, Feb 10, 4:30pm - 5:15pm
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Registration opens Monday, January 20 2025 at 9:00am

Tue, Feb 11, 10:30am - 11:00am
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Registration opens Tuesday, January 21 2025 at 9:00am

Tue, Feb 11, 1:30pm - 2:30pm
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Wed, Feb 12, 11:00am - 12:00pm
Meeting Room

Wed, Feb 12, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
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Thu, Feb 13, 10:30am - 11:00am
Program Room - (Children)
Registration opens Thursday, January 23 2025 at 9:00am

Thu, Feb 13, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Meeting Room

Thu, Feb 13, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Program Room - (Children)
Registration opens Thursday, January 23 2025 at 9:00am