I just got through reading, “Thriving at College,” by Alex Chediak with the subtitle, “Make great friends, keep your faith, and get ready for the real world!” I WISH I had such a book when I went to college! It would’ve saved me a lot of grief. I read this book because I have a daughter who is graduating from High School this year and I want to do my best to prepare her for her college experience. Too many teenagers drift from High School to College without any real thought or plan.
I love the way Chediak described college as, “glorifying God with every aspect of your week, loving Him with all your mind, and training hard for the good works that He has prepared for you (Ephesians 2:10), while developing relationships that will reinforce your convictions and propel you in a Godward direction.” (HUGE run on sentence… but GOOD)
The book is solidly grounded in Scripture and yet doesn’t come out as “preachy.” It is also loaded with practical and relevant examples from some of the students that Chediak teaches. In each chapter there are (1) Factoids (2) Q & A and (3) Discussion Questions.
The book is organized around ten common mistakes often made in college.
- Chunking Your Faith
- Treating College as if it Were High School.
- Not Being Intentional
- Distorting Dating and Romance.
- Refusing to Grow Up.
- Being a Flake.
- Living out of Balance.
- Being too Passive or too Cocky.
- Living for Grades.
- Wasting Opportunities.
The book did a remarkable job helping the reader see a good healthy balance between work and recreation. Since college is the Launchpad into the real world, I wish more college students would take the truths behind this book seriously. College is all about finding your place in this world and this book is a great resource to discover God’s best in your life.
Some of the major topics that the book addresses:
- Taking care of yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
- How to not only keep your faith, but GROW it.
- Choosing your friends wisely.
- Good study habits.
- How to choose not only a Major, but a Vocation.
- Staying in control of your finances. (EVERYONE ought to read!)
- Extracurricular Activities
The book also explodes a lot of myths of College. One that got my attention was the Myth of Multitasking. A group of researchers at Stanford University investigating multitasking discovered that people who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory, or switch from one mob to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time.
I would classify it as an “easy read,” with larger print and fewer words on each page. This would account for it’s 327 pages and a Must Read for anyone in College!
I received this book free of charge in exchange of a unbiased review.