Read what people think about The New Global Student by Maya Frost, and write your own review.
The New Global Student
Skip the SAT, Save Thousands on Tuition, and Get a Truly International Education
by
Maya Frost
Published in USA May 2009,
336 pages.
Rated of 5
by David L. (Taft, CA) Old Schooler Converts to Bold Schooler
The skeptic in me immediately wanted to “pooh pooh” Maya Frost’s notion of taking a nontraditional path towards international scholarship. I tried a nontraditional path and ended up adding decades to my completing my degrees and creating a mountain of debt that spelunkers have contacted me about climbing.
I am glad I turned the cover of this book. While I was not immediately buying into Frost’s argument that traditional American high school experiences are not preparing students for global competition, I was hooked by Mark Twain’s quote. This turned out to be one of many of the marvelous features in this book. Ms. Frost has liberally sprinkled her pages with pith and sassiness to wake up the stodgiest of readers. The physical layout of the pages pulls the reader along unobtrusively while the material she presents sinks into the brain. Her constant plays upon and inventiveness with words (I loved “FEGO!”) kept me reading far longer in a sitting than I had originally intended. Several chapters later I found that my skepticism had disappeared and was replaced by incredible enthusiasm and strong commitment to support my students and their families in their global quests for college credits abroad.
The premise of the book is well supported. It is entirely possible for today’s young people to say “Good-bye, old school” and “Hello, bold school” in their quest for international scholarship and getting “sizzling 21st-century skills” without debt. Maya Frost thoroughly documents her family’s journeys and enlists the stories of dozens of others to confirm her assertion. Most convincing are her daughters’ tales of initial concerns yielding to unique experiences that have shaped all of them into multi-talented young women in great demand by many international firms. It is hard to argue with success.
Rated of 5
by Jan S. (Saratoga, CA) An approach that is not for the weak of heart
I wanted to really love this book, but for me it came up a bit short. I have a daughter in her junior year attending a Waldorf High School who would like to study abroad as a full-fledge university student in another country. While I found some of the stories encouraging, I felt that most of the students (and especially the author's daughters) were over-achievers. They make my daughter seem meek in comparison.
Ms. Frost does give some good practical tips on how to look for colleges abroad and some skills you will need to be successful in a foreign university. I especially liked the frank talk she gives parents. There are also good tips that can serve high school students well even if they do not choose to study abroad.
This book is defiantly not for mainstream America, but if you are thinking about college choices outside the standard American university, I recommend it.
Rated of 5
by Linda K. (Belvidere, IL) If I could do it all again...
If I could do it all again, I would wait about 40 years to be born so that I could read The New Global Student during my summer vacation after 8th grade, and begin my high school years with a different outlook. Fortunately, for those of you who were born in the late 90s and beyond, and my high school friends who were having your kids in the mid to late 90s, you still have a chance.
If you cannot imagine 'bucking the system' to follow Maya Frost's recommendations/suggestions, read the book for the sheer joy of her humor and the 'dream of what could be'. No one will walk away from this book without having learned something new and without being changed. Before, during, or after reading the book, visit Ms. Frost's website (www.mayafrost.com) for more information about the students profiled in the book, as well as additional pointers, and to read what others have to say about the book and more importantly, the vision.
NO ONE should miss this eye-opening true-life adventure. Besides, the possibility of graduating college just a year or two after high school is well worth the price of the book and your time!
Rated of 5
by Dorian B. (Bainbridge, NY) Thinking outside the box
Maya Frost has written a book in which she is able to share the different approach that her family chose to educate their children. As an educator I applaud their ability to "think outside the box" and create new experiences. While not for everyone, it provides an excellent example to parents that the world still holds many opportunities. We do not necessarily need to leave the country, but following our instincts and knowing our children can help to create many educational opportunities.
Rated of 5
by Laura A. (Tequesta, Florida) The new Global Student
Maya Frost's assessment of the education system we feed our children into is brilliant. Although the ultimate goal seems to be encouraging our students to study abroad, the book is really about how to encourage our children to develop a love of learning. Right down to the last detail, Frost pushes us to think outside the box and embrace change without fear. This is a wonderful book for anyone who is willing to reevaluate the value of the education their child is receiving.
Rated of 5
by Helen S. (Sun City West, AZ) Moving toward Bold School thinking
If you are the parent of a middle- or high school student or a school counselor who wants to help prepare high school students for challenging and interesting careers in a global economy, you would get practical, first-hand advice from The New Global Student. In an upbeat (sometimes almost flippant) style, Maya Frost tells why she and her husband chose to leave a comfortable suburban life in the Northwest and move to Mexico, then to Argentina, with their four daughters. The stories of many other students who studied, traveled, and worked throughout the world, became fluent in one or more languages other than English, finished college at least two years earlier than classmates who stayed in a traditional high school program in the United States, and often accomplished this without going into debt are inspiring.
Not all families who want to help their children prepare for a global career are in a position to sell everything and move abroad as the Frosts did. Those families could follow Maya Frost’s recommendations to take community college classes simultaneously with high school classes at home to earn as much as two years’ college credit before high school graduation, then to look for internships and/or jobs abroad to strengthen their language and job skills. The book is full of examples of the various paths taken by successful global students coming from wide range of economic backgrounds. In my opinion, this is a good book which shows that, with discipline and determination, a student desiring a global education could achieve this goal.
The book would be a valuable resource for families contemplating leaving the Old School way of thinking about education and going toward the Bold School of alternative education. Other parents can follow Maya Frost’s practical suggestions to give their students a richer, international education and not use up all the family savings in the process. I enjoyed the book and will recommend it to my two daughters who are now considering expensive, traditional college educations for their high school age children.
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of 5
by David L. (Taft, CA) 
of 5
by Jan S. (Saratoga, CA) 
of 5
by Dorian B. (Bainbridge, NY) 
