Thriving at College: Make Great Friends, Keep Your Faith, and Get Ready for the Real World!

Going to college can be exciting, anxiety inducing, and expensive! You want your child to get the most out of their college experience--what advice do you give? Thriving at College by Alex Chediak is the perfect gift for a college student or a soon-to-be college student. Filled with wisdom and practical advice from a seasoned college professor and student mentor, Thriving at College covers the ten most common mistakes that college students make--and how to avoid them! Alex leaves no stone unturned--he discusses everything from choosing a major and discerning one's vocation to balancing academics and fun, from cultivating relationships with peers and professors to helping students figure out what to do with their summers. Most importantly, this book will help students not only keep their faith but build a vibrant faith and become the person God created them to be.In a nutshell, Thriving at College is about how college students can launch into responsible, fruitful adulthood for the glory of God against the backdrop of a young adult culture that often values perpetual adolescence and the avoidance of responsibility. It explores topics such as embracing responsibility, loving God with all your mind, growing in character and maturity, striving for academic excellence, balancing work and recreation, finding your calling, establishing godly friendships, handling the transition from high school to college, time management, financial discipline, and honoring parents while pursuing functional/economic independence. Review "There is no better guide to college than this."Alex and Brett Harris, best-selling authors of Do Hard Things"Alex has written an insightful and useful book to help college-bound people know what to expect, how to prepare for it, and what to do to avoid the pitfalls." Randy Alcorn,best-selling author of Heaven"Written by an 'insider'--a former student, now a professor, this book addresses all the issues a student might face. An excellent gift for all high school seniors."Jerry Bridges, best-selling author of The Pursuit of Holiness Review Most Christian young people go to college without specific goals and are unprepared for the challenges that await them. While some prosper spiritually, most get derailed, and an alarming number abandon their faith. Alex has written an insightful and useful book to help college-bound people know what to expect, how to prepare for it, and what to do to avoid the pitfalls. Randy Alcorn, bestselling author of HeavenMany in my generation look back on their college years with regret, wishing we had been more intentional and focused during our time on campus. Before you invest four years of your life and tens of thousands of dollars, spend a few dollars and a few hours to read this book. Bob Lepine, cohost of FamilyLife TodayAlex?s goal is to spare college-bound young people from entering college thoughtlessly and then drifting after they are there. The book has all the right ingredients to meet that goal. Dr. Leland Ryken, professor at Wheaton College From the Author College is this glorious, crucially significant "in between" stage. You're on the threshold of adulthood. Most enter college under their parents' care and financial support. But if it's done right, they'll graduate as men and women ready to assume an adult role in an interdependent society and as a functional, contributing member of a local church.In short, college should be a launching pad into all that goes with Christian adulthood. Yet for some it's a time when they abandon the Christian faith, never to return, giving evidence that they never really belonged to Christ (I John 1:19).  For others, their faith remains intact, but college is a somewhat frivolous season of entertainment, recreation, and amusement--an expensive vacation funded by Mom, Dad, and student loans.  And many learn to privatize their Christian faith, worshiping God on Sunday but never seeing their