iii Welcome to Approaching College with Purpose! This book is focused on the impor- tance of students beginning their educational journey with intention, developing good habits, creating a strong mindset, and acquiring strategies to ensure a successful transition to college. The idea behind this book is straightforward: To go beyond “what it takes” for college success and to delve deeper into the “how” of becoming a successful college student. Approaching College with Purpose is not just about acquiring specific and discrete skills—it is about translating those skills across contexts at increasingly complex levels. Students have an easier ability than most to absorb singular tips, tactics, and steps. What remains more challenging, and is often unsupported, is how students engage those ideas to make them their own. Approaching College with Purpose focuses on these key areas: • Communication: Strong emphasis on effective communication—especially writing. • Critical thinking: Consistent application of reflective activities to encourage students to apply concepts to their unique situations and use their experiences to think critically. • Collaboration: Awareness of each student’s unique perspectives, values, and preferences in terms of the role each student plays in strengthening their personal, academic, and professional communities. Information is provided in a concise, approachable, and modern tone that respects students. Drilling in a bit more, the book seeks to: • Acknowledge and respect students’ unique perspectives: Approaching College with Purpose acknowledges that all students bring valuable, relevant, and diverse experience and wisdom to their first-year experience. This text strives to support the integration of these skills and leverage each student’s own individual strengths and traits for a successful first-year transition. • Focus on students owning their experience: Students are overwhelmed and distracted by the amount and variety of information available. This text is designed to give students tasks to try, offer them simple suggestions on how to approach problems, and suggest strategies to help them develop their own methods, as well as their own best practices, for approaching and managing college assignments. Preface