As you certainly know, your TXGU students are climbing uphill a bit when it comes to being set up for college and career readiness. Jason Ma founded an organization that’s helping students reach their full potential academically, while also producing some wonderful human beings. As a result, he’s mentoring some of the nation’s highest-achieving students. So, as you might guess, he has some legit experience on guiding students towards becoming the best version of themselves.

His most important tip? Start everything early. The sooner the better when it comes to teaching students about the benefit of routines, diversifying the literature they’re exposed to, and getting them excited about a career or hobby at a young age by encouraging them to be involved. All of these things help to establish clear goals early on and relieve some of the stressful decisions down the road. Read up on a few of Jason’s impressive insights from this Forbes article and then watch him talk more about the strategies his organization is using to groom these outstanding students. (Bring it on, new school year!)

“Once again, children must truly stand out holistically, in addition to performing academically.”

“By starting earlier in working with great advisors and mentors, students and families can significantly reduce stress, save time and money and experience greater success and higher ROI during the increasingly brutal top-tier university applications season and in the long run.”