Nora Bradbury-Haehl - The Freshman Survival Guide: Soulful Advice for Studying, Socializing, and Everything in Between

There are options. The words were neatly printed in the empty space under question number four on our student survey. The surveys had arrived at our offices in New York City from the campus of the University of Iowa in Iowa City. It was just a single piece of paper in a thick stack of replies we had received, but amid all the dashed-off handwritten responses we tried to decipher that day, those words stuck out. A twenty-two-year-old University of Iowa senior was responding to our question: What was the best advice you got as a freshman?

That was well before The Freshman Survival Guide was first published. Looking back now with a few more years of perspective and over sixty thousand copies of the book in use by students across North America, it is even clearer how true that students insight was. So much of the input weve received from students and administrators over the years has been helpful, but There are options was different. It jumped out at us like a clear, simple response to the much bigger questions wed been asking ourselves about this book before the first edition was published: What is it really about? What do college students actually need to know? What wisdom can we possibly offer to students who have been bombarded with advice from all angles?

When we embarked on writing this fully updated edition of the book, we realized that Iowa students statement was more relevant now than ever. The number of options and complexity that students face seems to grow exponentially every year.

Fortunately, this undergrad had unwittingly offered us a Zen koanlike bit of wisdom that got to the heart of what we wanted to offer college students. If this book does anything at all, we hope it gives you the sense that you have options during your college career. Not just academic, social, or lifestyle options but options in every sense. You will be faced with more choices in the next few years than youve ever imagined. Those choices will be accompanied by seemingly endless questions, ranging from small issues like how to get along with a difficult roommate to the big existential questions college is famous for inspiring: Who am I? Why am I here? What do I believe? What should I do with my life? Asking questions is an essential part of what college is all about;