Proximity

High school students in grades nine through twelve, roughly ages fourteen to eighteen, along with their parents or guardians.

Younger siblings are not a good fit for this particular evening. The conversation is aimed squarely at students who are close enough to graduation for it to feel real.

We do have events and programs for younger students in the works. If that is your family, email us and we will let you know as soon as something is ready for them.

No, but we strongly encourage it. Students may attend on their own.

Because seating is very limited, we kindly ask that each student bring no more than one parent or family member as their guest. We would rather fill this room with students than with families, and holding to one guest each is what makes that possible. If that creates a real problem for your family, email us and we will do what we can.

If your student is coming without you, we ask that a parent or guardian completes the registration form so we have a contact for that evening, and that you arrange drop off and pick up rather than having your student arrive on their own.

Parents who do attend sit in the same room for the whole ninety minutes, including the question and answer session.

The venue holds a limited number of people, and we have reached capacity for October 8.

Registering is a request, not an instant seat. Nick reads every registration himself and emails you back to confirm. That is on purpose. This is a small room with high school students in it, and we would rather know exactly who is coming.

Once you are confirmed, you will get an email from Nick with the exact address and everything you need for that evening. Please keep that address to yourself, since there will be someone at the gate checking names against the list.

If you are confirmed and then cannot make it, reply to that email so we can offer the seat to another family.

Registering now adds you to the waitlist. If a seat opens up from a cancellation, we will reach out right away, first come, first served.

We understand, and we would never ask a family to drop a commitment they have already made.

One thing worth knowing before you decide: this particular room only assembles once. Nine people cleared the same Thursday evening to show up and talk to teenagers. That exact lineup will not happen again.

There will be other Proximity evenings, and we would love to see your student at one. But this is No. 1.

No. This is an in person gathering by design. It is not streamed and there is no way to attend remotely.

The whole point is a small room where a student can put their hand up, ask an owner something a little awkward, and then walk over and shake that person's hand afterward. None of that survives a screen.

A private, restored property in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania. The address is not posted publicly. It is sent to you by email once Nick has confirmed your spot, along with a map link and parking directions.

There will be someone at the gate that evening checking names, so please arrive under the name you registered with, and use the map link we send rather than searching for the venue.

It is a historic building on private property with parking on site. If anyone in your party has a mobility, hearing, vision or other access need, email us before the event and we will make arrangements for you.

Nick Collins is the point of contact for the evening and can be reached at nick@proximityprep.com. His phone number is included in your registration confirmation.

Adults from the Proximity network are present throughout, including every speaker. Students are never on their own in a separate space, and the entire event takes place in one room over ninety minutes.

We use it only to contact you about this event and future Proximity events, and to keep a record of which evenings your student has attended. We do not sell it, rent it, share it with the speakers, or pass it to anyone else.

If you want your information removed at any point, email nick@proximityprep.com and it will be deleted.

Yes. Every student who attends is logged as having been at Proximity No. 1, and each student gets a card to keep track of the evenings they have attended.

Over time that becomes a real track record. A young person who has spent evenings in rooms with business owners, asking questions, has something specific to point to when they are sitting with a coach, applying somewhere, or talking to an employer. It is a milestone marker, and it is meant to build momentum.

These records are private. We do not publish a list of students anywhere, and we do not share names without a parent asking us to.

No. Admission is genuinely free. We collect canned goods or non-perishables for the Hampstead Little Free Pantry and would love you to bring one, but nobody is turned away over it.

Proximity does run a longer paid program, and if that ever becomes relevant to your family we will talk about it in person, on a different day. It will not be pitched from the stage on October 8.

Questions, and a canned good or non-perishable for the pantry if you can.

Bring a notepad and something to write with. Nick asks every student to do this. People are going to say things worth writing down, and almost nobody remembers them a week later without it.

There is no dress code. It is a casual evening, not an interview.