About This Blog

I love freshmen. I am convinced most instructors and professors would rather teach upper-level college courses or avoid the classroom altogether in favor of research. Of course, I am overgeneralizing (which in my discipline is a big no-no). Unfortunately, I'm not fully convinced that the students don't come to the same conclusion about their professors. Depending on which publication you read, the graduation rate from four-year institutions hovers around 50%, and that's on a good day. We lose many of our students before the end of their freshmen year.

Some students are under-prepared academically. Most are unprepared socially, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. They are overwhelmed by a culture that is extremely foreign to them. I love freshmen, because they are pliable and need guidance. I call the process of helping first-year students acclimate to the college environment the "proper care and feeding of freshmen."

The section Preparing Future Freshmen lists blogs for parents of high schoolers (or the high school students themselves--I'm all about letting the student participate in his or her own education). These blogs provide tips on how to prepare your student for college life.

The Freshmen Fifteen is a series of blogs for first-time freshmen. The purpose of the series is to provide guidance to students who are entering college soon or are already enrolled.

When College Sucks is a list of blogs for students who may be considering a different path that leads them away from college.

Teaching Freshmen is a series for experienced and novice instructors who are disenchanted with freshmen courses or don't know how to relate to the new generation. The advice is not discipline specific.