Lombardo, Allison, and Katharine Jackson, eds. Navigating Your Freshman Year. New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press, 2005. Print.
In the Fall 2009 semester alone, South Texas College experienced a 23% increase in enrollment. As the Fall 2010 semester quickly approaches, we can only imagine how many first-time college students will be looking to STC for their educational needs. How many of these students will enter college as wide-eyed freshmen only to be overwhelmed by seemingly insurmountable reading assignments, research papers, and tests? Countless freshmen have entered college unaware of the strategies and skills needed to survive their first year.
Fortunately, in addition to the extremely helpful College Success course taught at STC, our campus libraries house a number of books that focus on the skills needed to be successful in a college environment. One such book, Navigating Your Freshman Year, consists only of “brutally honest advice, ideas, and personal stories” contributed by college students all over the country. While certain chapters of the books may not be relevant to the average STC student (the first 3 chapters consist mostly of stories about homesickness and “roommate hell”), there are many ideas and lessons worth reading. Some of the best stories and advice are about learning to study, prioritize, and remain relatively stress-free, but there are dozens more about dating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Most of these suggestions are not groundbreaking, but this guide packages them in a way that is both realistic and humorous. Navigating Your Freshman Year is well-rounded and caters to the average student who seeks good grades and an active social life.
Contributed by Jessica Cruz, Library Specialist at the Mid-Valley Campus.
