New book will be college students’ best friend for four years and beyond

Jonathan Wong’s Succeeding in College and Life is packed with everything a prospective college student will need to know to succeed. As a former English teacher who taught composition to freshmen, I wish this book had been in print when I taught because I would have recommended it as reading for all my students.

What makes Succeeding in College and Life stand out to me is that it offers a bird’s eye view of the college experience. Yes, it contains plenty of tips on how to study for good grades, but the college experience is so much more than that. It is about discovering yourself. It’s about building relationships with friends that could last forever. It’s about being away from home and living alone. It is about the education of the mind and the awakening of the personality in new, surprising and magical ways. Jonathan Wong, who has been a college instructor for a long time, understands all of that, and he has it all covered between the covers of this book. While I can’t mention every topic Jonathan addresses in these pages, I will touch on a few highlights.

One of the biggest problems with college is the idea that you need to be perfect. Writer’s block can also become study block and performance block. Jonathan reminds students that they don’t have to be perfect; they just have to do the best they can. He also reminds them that not getting an A and even failing is okay as long as you’re learning, which is the true purpose of education, not just grades. This practical advice helps to verify the real importance of a university education.

Jonathan then guides the reader through all aspects of the college experience, from choosing a major to selecting classes to developing study and time management skills. He also provides lots of tips on networking, finding internships, getting good recommendations from your professors, and other things he can do to make you stand out from the crowd while in college to impress potential employers.

I also really appreciated all the financial advice in the book. Jonathan explores all the ways to finance a college education, from scholarships and financial aid to balancing work with school. He also gives students wonderful advice on managing their money during their college years.

College is also a time to have fun. There are tips on these pages about networking with other students and participating in various activities on or off campus to build lifelong friendships. Perhaps most importantly, Jonathan reminds readers that their classmates, especially within their specific fields of study, will be their colleagues in the workplace, not only competing with them for jobs, but also possibly becoming on your employees or bosses in the future, so the stronger relationships you build in college, the better your chances for professional success and personal happiness.

Throughout the book, Jonathan stops readers to ask them to reflect. Each chapter concludes with one or more exercises to get students thinking about everything from where to get advice if needed to knowing how to use the library and other resources on campus. These exercises, when completed, will make the book a resource directory for students.

Finally, well, there’s a lot more, but I’ll just mention one last thing: I went to college in the early ’90s just like Jonathan did. In those days, we started to need the use of computers to write our documents. Today, there are countless technological resources available to students that we did not have then. Jonathan gives advice on all of these different resources, including word processing programs, various types of software, computers, websites, etc. Many of them are based on people’s different personal learning styles and can provide incredible benefits. I was very impressed with all the technology that I didn’t even know existed that could be useful to students.

I wish someone had given me this book when I graduated from high school. While much of the information may seem like common sense to people already involved in their careers, it’s not always obvious to an eighteen-year-old freshman. If I had devoured this book during the summer before my freshman year, I would have been much better prepared for college. I wish someone like Jonathan had told me to make more of an effort to network and be social during my college years, so I could take advantage of the way people could help me not only in the classroom but also in my future career. In short, this book can even help introverts.

Anyone who knows a potential high school graduate should give them a copy of this book. It will be a college student’s best friend through the academic years, preparing students for success in their careers and even in their lives.