Interview with Author Cynthia Kocialski

How can the average student be highly successful? Can you prosper without being at the top of the class?

I'd like to introduce you to Cynthia Kocialski - she has written a book about helping kids and parents realize their goals, avoid common pitfalls, and lay the groundwork through the secondary talents, skills, and mindset necessary for optimal success. This book teaches kids strategies to be successful in their career and in life.

Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success provides readers with answers to such questions as:

How common beliefs you learn in school have a negative impact on your later success and how does the game change after you receive your diploma.

This interview will tell you the motivation behind the book and provide insights on how youth can fulfill their dreams of success.

Yvonne Wu - Why did you write Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success?

Cynthia Kocialski - My oldest daughter is someone who is never good enough for our local school system. She is always being asked to take tutoring and spend extra time at school in order to get better grades. At this point, my daughter doesn´t like school much. Over the course of my career, what I´ve learned is success in life doesn´t hinge upon getting the top grades. There are lots of average people who are highly successful.

Yvonne Wu - Can the average student be successful in their chosen career path?

Cynthia Kocialski - A+ grades or extreme talent are not required for success, average can be quite successful. Talent alone won´t make your dreams come true, so why spend every waking minute furthering this single talent? School teaches you how to increase your knowledge about a subject, but knowing isn´t the same as doing, and doing isn´t the same as achieving.

Yvonne Wu - Why are young adults missing these secondary skills?

Cynthia Kocialski - It´s those secondary skills, beyond the talent, that creates the packaging needed to make it all happen. So why wait to develop these complementary skills until after you perfected your talent?

We grow up with common notions about success, ones that can be misleading and have a negative impact on later success. As the saying goes, "When I became a man, I put those childish ways aside." We are spending longer in school, postponing entering the workforce and fully becoming adults until later. These childish ways of thinking are becoming more deeply rooted and more difficult to dislodge. The mindset for success needs to start earlier.

Yvonne Wu - What would you say to students who are frustrated with their grades in school?

Cynthia Kocialski - Over the course of my career, what I´ve learned is success in life doesn´t hinge upon getting the top grades. There are lots of average people who are highly successful.

Grades in school are based upon the normal distribution, which means only a very small percentage of kids will ever be straight A students. School work alone isn´t what makes a person successful. If it were, we wouldn´t see college drop outs being billionaires. The biggest and most successful corporations would be headed by the alumni of the top schools, and that´s not true either.

Yvonne Wu - Who is your intended audience?

Cynthia Kocialski - This book is for all those kids and young adults, who have been lead to believe that success in school is indicative of success in life. If academics aren´t your strength, then find what is and pursue it. What do you think would have become of Mozart if he were required to be a straight A student before practicing his music? Likewise, consider that every veterinarian receives the same training in school, yet some develop thriving practices while others create marginal ones.

Yvonne Wu - Describe your book in 3 words.

Cynthia Kocialski - Succeeding Beyond Academics

Yvonne Wu - Where is Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success available?

Cynthia Kocialski - The book is available at Amazon.com or http://www.cynthiakocialski.com.