Philippa at her daughter’s graduation in Bath, UK last month
When we heard that Philippa Dobree-Carey had written a book about how to manoeuvre children into a university, we had to know more! We asked her to answer the following questions and she has even offered a great lifetime discount on her membership subscription.
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
Having successfully installed my children, who graduated from high school in 2018 and 2020 into their respective universities in the UK and Switzerland, I realized my acquired knowledge could be a help to other parents and students who may be also be confused by what to do, what to buy, and where to even start. With each installation into student accommodation, and then packing them up at the end of the year, I made myself lists, tips and templates to remember for next time, which then turned into a really organized kit that we referred to in terms of inventory, not forgetting things, and remembering what NOT to take next time!
Have you been working on this idea forever, or was it something that came to you recently?
I had started to develop training materials which I pitched to the Ecolint La Chataigneraie campus with the intention of running a summer program for IB graduates, to prepare them with some life skills before going to university. While my children know how to cook, iron, stick to a budget and go food shopping, I was aware that their peers may not have the same knowledge! The school was interested in the project and while I was developing the course further to roll out in 2020, COVID-19 struck, and the school then had to cope with switching to remote learning, which threw a spanner in the works. I therefore switched gears, and started to note my ideas into a book format.
What is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
Timing and Technology! I work full time as a Change Management Coordinator for The Global Fund, therefore this was a personal project outside of working hours and at weekends. Obviously my strength and expertise lies in time and project management so the biggest obstacle was keeping my energy levels up, in addition to managing a household, settling two adult children in UK and Swiss universities, a husband, a puppy and all the organisation that those require! The second obstacle was technology – which has now increased and improved my skillset in terms of knowledge on publishing, website development and social media – although my children would beg to differ on the latter, so I let them handle that side of things! Tiktoks and being in front of a camera are not really my cup of tea!
