When it comes to transitioning into college, some are confident about the next step in life, while others may be worried. Until high school graduates make the transition, move into a college dorm and live life on their own, they will never actually know what to do when it comes to starting what some call the best four years of one’s life.
For female high school seniors, the founders of Her Campus understand the struggle that comes along with college life and decided to create the perfect guide to smoothing out the kinks.
Her Campus is an online community for college and high school girls with articles by thousands of college journalists. The site offers advice on style, love, careers, health and more.
“One of the things we hear from readers about why they love Her Campus is that we cover topics they’re dying to know more about but are too embarrassed to talk about, even with their best friends,” Stephanie Kaplan Lewis, one of the founders of Her Campus, said. “We wanted to make sure that our book also covered everything college women actually want to know about, not just the stuff they’ll admit to asking about.”
Kaplan Lewis, along with others from Her Campus, wrote “The Her Campus Guide to College Life: How To Manage Relationships, Stay Safe And Healthy, Handle Stress And Have The Best Years Of Your Life” in order to give girls the best advice on how to handle four years at whichever place they decide to pursue higher education.
“We thought it would be nice to put together a comprehensive ‘guide’ of sorts to college life, that would be the collegiate bible, and we always imagined this to be in book form,” Kaplan Lewis said.
The “bible” takes on the transition in all of the ways imaginable, from Greek life to parties, relationships to internships. It is a one-stop shop for anything that a girl needs in order to be successful in college.
According to the Her Campus website, other topics include how to avoid the freshman 15, how to bond with your roommate and coping with stress and anxiety, especially during finals week.
“It’s impossible to pick just one chapter because this book is all about how all of these aspects in life come together in college,” Kaplan Lewis said. “But I would say the chapter on mental health is one of the more critically important ones.”
The book eludes to the fact that college teaches a person life lessons in and out of the classroom. It is all about getting out there and getting involved.
“Our book isn’t just about academics, or just about parties, or just about eating healthy; it’s about how all these areas of your life come together to make your college experience the amazing four years it should be,” she said. “It’s critical to keep your many pursuits—academic, social, romantic, extracurricular, career—in balance in order to get everything you can out of college life.”
The book is aimed at high school girls about to enter college, as well as those already in college. Kaplan Lewis said that readers have given Her Campus great feedback.
She said girls already in college value the career and study abroad advice. Those about to begin college in the fall said that a lot of their questions have been answered.
“Girls starting college this fall have told us how the book answered all the questions they had but weren’t sure who to ask, and made them feel much less nervous and much more confident about starting school this fall,” Kaplan Lewis said.