can anyone suggest me a book that will make me feel better about entering college soon. i’m very worried abt all the uncertainty or not being smart enough or making bad choices.
a book that comforts, says everything will be ok or a book with a badass character i can hope to embody
or just books on college advice in general
by PoopSkullIsBack
4 Comments
Anne of Green Gables – books 2 and 3 she goes away to school (although you should read #1 so you know what’s happening). I found it really comforting to realize that people have had the same fears and anxieties around leaving home for a century.
For making decisions, The Defining Decade by Meg Jay gives good advice. It’s not advice you have to take, but it’s one way of doing things.
For being anxious about failing or “not being smart enough”, I recommend Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed. It’s very important to use the type of thinking that he uses..to prepare you for life in general. It’s a matter-of-fact book. It doesn’t coddle you at all, but tells you why it’s logical to have this sort of mindset.
But anyway, nothing will comfort you more than preparing. So whatever your major is, I suggest reading concrete nonfiction books about it. Probably math if it’s stem. You honestly don’t really need to “understand” calculus for most calculus/differential eqns/linear algebra classes, there’s a lot of memorization, but in your job you probably will need to understand it well. I’m thinking the “For Dummies” books could suffice.
Ali Hazelwood’s books! Strong STEM female characters often with anxious traits who kick ass. The titles and covers sound/look cheesy. They are lighter reading but aren’t super cheesy.
I second Anne of Green Gables, too, though.
There will be lots of support in college- take advantage of office hours, mental health help, your RAs… whatever you need!