Across every setting, the same realization surfaced: when a young person feels seen, they stop performing and start becoming.

No matter the location or the socio-economics, something universal emerged: teenagers are trying to make sense of their story — but no one is teaching them how.

They’re coached and taught to achieve and compete, but rarely invited to reflect.

Who am I supposed to be? What matters to me? Does any of this make sense?

Those questions may not appear verbatim on the Common App — but they determine everything a teen writes on it.

The Work Beneath the Work

Alan doesn’t polish résumés. He doesn’t chase prestige. He doesn’t tell students who to become.

He creates the space for them to discover it.

Through calm, attentive, and deeply personal guidance, Alan helps teens:

• understand the patterns in their choices

• recognize the values shaping their direction

• articulate meaning instead of performance

• make academic and college decisions they can stand behind

When identity becomes clear, applications stop feeling like auditions — and start feeling like expressions of truth.

A Worldview—Not a Résumé

Alan’s approach wasn’t formed in a classroom or built from templates. It grew out of years of close, real conversations with teenagers, leading to:

• asking better questions — and truly listening to the answers

• watching confidence grow when comparison falls away

• seeing teens come alive when someone finally hears them

His work rests on a core belief:

Young people don’t need more pressure. They need meaning.

A Life Lived Alongside the Work

Alan lives outside Boston with his wife — a yoga studio owner — and their middle-school-aged son, whose evolving identity reminds him daily that becoming never ends.

He reads widely, bikes often, and keeps company with people who value curiosity over certainty.