Carpe College! -- New Book Makes College Transition Easier

ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Mike Metzler, an educator with nearly two decades of college and high school teaching experience, has released Carpe College! Seize Your Whole College Experience, to help high school graduates and their families navigate the transition into college.

As college decisions loom, it's a good time to recognize how the high school experience is laden with support and guidance from adults. "That support has the potential to make students passive," says Metzler, "a habit that should be left behind when heading to college." Carpe College! encourages students to be active and intentional about every aspect of their college experience. It addresses interactions with peers and professors, career reflection and academic choices, dorm living and partying – fostering a mindset that helps students make the most of their fleeting college years. Metzler suggests a mantra repeated throughout the book:  'Know thyself. Have a plan. Assume no one else cares.' It reminds students to be reflective, organized and in control of their own destiny.

"A typical college student's day is a whirlwind of extremes," according to Metzler, "from engaging in lofty philosophical thought to managing mundane minutiae and blowing off steam. So the book parallels that experience -- it's lofty one moment and silly the next -- just like the students it aims to help."  It also recognizes that students juggle macro and micro challenges, like reflecting on career and life choices and managing their time, across both academic and social domains, all while trying to discover their emerging selves. 

The book's playful tone emerges from fun illustrations and quirky chapter titles, including "Parents in Parentheses," "Five Alarm Mac-n-Cheese," "Party Like a Smarty" and "Look! I Can See Your Breadth." While the tone is light, the material is substantive with tips and templates for academic planning, communicating with professors, preparing for internships, and seeing the link between a rich life outside the classroom and success beyond college. 

Helpful appendices include weekly planning charts, roommate questionnaires, personal reflection prompts, special sections for commuter students, athletes and struggling students, and advice from the author's many former students.

More information about the book, including excerpts, table of contents, author bio and high res images can be found at CarpeCollege.com.

The book is available through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound.org.

SOURCE Woodsman Press