061620 — Blog — Rulerless

When I speak of my life as a child growing up in a small town in Maine, I’m not exaggerating or idealizing when I say that there was endless time to play.

Back in the olden days of the 1980s, kindergarten lasted only a half day, there was no homework until third or fourth grade, and children who were barely out of the single digits could roam around on bikes or on foot. Older kids enjoyed a six-hour school day and no carpool — just a short bus ride. Standardized testing was minimal, and we had outdoor recess all the way through middle school. We didn’t have devices or the Internet — we had the woods, the beach, the library, and each other. And lots and lots of snow.

Casey von NeumannOctober 8, 2019061620, 070420, 071320, 072320, 012021, 021721Comment

You need a coach, not a teacher

If you want to learn something — anything — the content is out there.

There are books, videos, and courses galore to show you how to do whatever it is you want to do, from flower arranging to sailing to investing. Whether in person or online, there is no shortage of information and eager teachers out there.

Despite this, we don’t reach our goals. We don’t all learn how to do the things we want to. Although online course completion rates are not the best measure of whether someone is learning, most sources suggest that they hover between 5 and 15 percent. Presumably, some of these people got as much as they wanted to from the course or learned what the wanted to learn elsewhere, but for many of them, life happened. They wanted to follow through, but they didn’t.

Casey von NeumannOctober 4, 2019061620, 101420, 111620, 010521, 070521 Comments

When there is no right or wrong decision

When I look back at my college career at the University of Maine, many of my fondest memories revolved around being a member of the University Singers under the direction of Dr. Dennis K. Cox.

I have learned many things from DC, including the beauty of choral literature and the magic that can be created by a joyful group of people unified in their sound and their intent. However, one lesson I’ve never forgotten was one applicable not to choir, but to life in general. He told us, “When faced with a decision, it doesn’t matter what you choose, as long as you commit to it one hundred percent.”

Casey von NeumannJuly 9, 2019decision-making, 061620, decisions, 071120, 082620, 102120, 042021, 081821, 022122, 032623Comment

What the best teachers and coaches believe

As a freshman voice student, I was in trouble: I was supposed to sing opera, which I was terrible at.

My first teacher was an older man with a brisk, condescending demeanor. Our lessons together were bearable, but something was missing. By January or so, I didn’t feel that I had made a lot of improvement, and I’m sure he felt the same way.

One day, I asked him, “Do you believe that anyone can learn to sing?”

Casey von NeumannMay 17, 2019071119, 081419, 061620, 071120, 081420, 062119, 071522Comment

Getting over the fear of not measuring up

The human obsession with measurement is everywhere, and starts from our earliest moments. Our height and weight and Apgar scores are recorded when we are born. We are measured repeatedly throughout our childhoods, tracked for every developmental milestone and compared to others according to percentiles in every attribute.

A parent can become fearful about a child’s future if the child appears to be “behind” in some way. However, the truth is that we are all very different, and these measurements only go so far in helping us to identify potential problems caused by those differences.

Casey von NeumannMay 16, 2019081419, 061620, 070320, 071620Comment

"I want my kids to be happy...and get into Harvard."

How do you measure the value of a human life?

Is it measured by how successful someone is? Well then, how do we define successful? And how do we measure success?

Parents want the best for their kids — that appears to be universal. But there is no objective measurement of what best means.

To generalize mercilessly, I have observed three ways in which parents grapple with this issue.

Casey von NeumannApril 3, 2019061620, 072220, 081120, 012021, 021721, 051022Comment