As parents, helping your teenagers build a pre-college resumé is one of the most important things you can do during their high school years. A resumé that does not reflect your teens’ unique talents and accomplishments could be disastrous for their chances of admission and obtaining a scholarship.

I have found that one of the biggest obstacles in the creation of this all-important resumé is something we know all too well — being young and thinking we have all the time in the world.

As an adult, I remember having this attitude in my younger years, and it never served me well. Add youth and unlimited time with no deadline and we get procrastination. Add lack of planning to that procrastination and you get a lot of time wasted with absolutely no outcome.

You and your teen have four years of high school to create a life that is meaningful to any college, so don’t waste that time! Those four years go by like the blink of an eye.

It is very easy for teens to disregard their future during high school. That time is an all-encompassing “forever” moment, and teens and their parents wind up falling into the trap of doing activities for their own sake and taking classes because they have to.

Our kids are just living their lives: getting up, going to school, doing homework, joining after-school activities, taking music, soccer or tennis lessons and, of course, hanging out with friends while playing on their phones and computers.

It seems like their schedules are completely full, but do these activities lead anywhere? Does it feel as if your teen’s brain is running on a hamster wheel?

You might think that what your teen does after school doesn’t matter, but you’d be wrong. If you carefully craft the “perfect” pre-college life, you can transform your teen from a “buyer” to a “seller” in terms of college. In other words, your teen will be more in control of his or her future and not have to depend on being chosen by the college but have it the other way around.

So I highly suggest that you do not scramble at the last minute to figure out what your teens have accomplished in their high school years. Be thoughtful, take your time and take control of the situation early and create an outstanding resumé by organizing what they need to succeed with the admissions office and scholarship committee.

It would be prudent to realize that most serious students have been carefully crafting their resumés for years. They have planned their volunteer hours, clubs, their role in those clubs, private lessons and extracurricular activities as events that inevitably lead to being accepted to the university they are looking forward to attending.

Being a music educator and working with hundreds of students for many years has taught me that building a college resumé slowly throughout high school is the way to go. I would suggest starting in ninth grade. For every after-school activity, have your teen think five years in the future. If teens have some type of road map to get to their end goal, they will most likely get there. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

As a parent, don’t fret if college might not be the path your teen feels he or she needs. I would recommend building a resumé anyway. It becomes a blueprint for the future, and setting activities to build that great resumé will help your teen find a job or create a business plan after high school.

Even if the creation of a resumé is specifically set to figure out what your teen wants to do in life, it is a win/win project. I feel this is such an important aspect of building a future that I have created a resumé builder and budget planner for my music students that will help them develop and organize habits that lead to a productive life.

Helping your teen see and build his or her future in an organized way will create a lifetime of goal-setting and, even more importantly, goal achieving. And dare I say that I believe goal-setting, discipline and organization are more important than attending a university. What is the use of spending thousands of dollars for a school when your teen doesn’t know why he or she is there?

So again, don’t worry. If your teen is not interested in college straight out of high school, there are many great careers that don’t need a degree. How about real estate? Real estate school is a short-term, high-return investment of your teen’s time and your money. He or she can even start out working in a real estate office to learn the ropes and get a feel for the career. That work also can go on the resumé.

Does your teen have an idea for a business? Business classes through a local SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) are amazing. This nonprofit organization is filled with volunteers who are retired business owners and professionals, and they know a ton. And teens can put their completed classes on their resumé. Check out the website score.org/sandiego.

One more option is a trade school, which can lead to your teen owning a business. Taking a class on how to create a business plan while learning a trade can be quite valuable.

Doing research on how to build your child’s future, having conversations and throwing out ideas here and there always helps teens visualize their future and start building one that they will look forward to.

I know a lot of teens are worried about where they will go after high school. The resumé will keep them living in the moment to build their future selves. Your teens will be more comfortable and confident knowing they have a road map and parents who have their back.

Sue Monteiro is a professional violinist, educator and college prep coach and owner of Monteiro Music Studio, an online studio for violinists and violists. ♦