Here we are in January and we find ourselves thinking about opportunities to improve ourselves and our lives… at least you can’t look anywhere without being reminded it’s time to make new goals, start a new exercise routine, or organize some aspect of your life (for which there is surely some type of organization system on sale with everything you’ll need). This is the year I will….

If finishing higher education is one of those things that always comes up when you start thinking about goals but that never quite surfaces because you’re just not sure what to do with it, let this be your year to explore it a little deeper.

Or perhaps this is the year you’ll help your daughter develop her aspiration for a higher education and perhaps even take concrete steps to help her prepare – like starting an education savings account or taking her to a college campus, exploring course offerings together, or finding some way to inspire her.

A broad higher education provides intellectual and cognitive development, among other desirable benefits. It provides self-understanding and better reasoning skills.

Research shows that women in particular receive valuable development opportunities in the areas of verbal and writing skills, interpersonal and teamwork abilities, quantitative and analysis skills, critical thinking, reflective judgment and principled moral reasoning, integrating ideas and concepts, gaining content knowledge in various fields, and learning effectively on their own.” (UWEP Research and Policy Brief, p. 3)

If these sound like traits and skills you’d like your daughter to develop, start thinking about how to inspire her aspiration to graduate from college.

During the next year, we’ll work hard to provide you with lots of resources and ideas, so join us weekly for new insights and tips on our blog.

And if you find it useful… as always… please be sociable and share it with your friends. We love to share.

Personal note from the author: As I look toward a new year of coordinating weekly writers for this blog, and I again find myself up at odd hours in the morning, I think a lot about what will be most valuable to you. And I wonder what makes me wake up an hour or two earlier to make sure you have something to read each Wednesday morning (or daily on social channels).

Like others working on this project, I hope that your daughter will have a life that is rich and full and that she will develop her mind and her many talents in ways that will bring great happiness – both to her and those whose lives become intertwined with hers in one way or another. And I hope she’ll find ways to contribute the best of herself to others.

From all of us who are so motivated at UWEI, it’s worth all the early, extra, and volunteer hours and heart put into it if it helps you inspire your daughters and gives them a vision of their potential. We hope you have a great year!

Don’t hesitate to send a quick note about what you find most useful. Or just show that you like it by sharing. We’ll get the hint.

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JANA SCOTT is the Coordinator for Prosperity 2020 and volunteers as the blog coordinator for the Utah Women and Education Initiative blog.