New Book Addresses College Freshman Challenges

PARK CITY, Utah, Oct. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As we approach college application season for high school seniors and continue to deal with an unpredictable pandemic, "making the right choices for the right reasons has never been more important," according to William Keator, author of a new book entitled, When Eagles Launch. Subtitled "Find Your Best College and Make it a Foundational Life Experience," Keator's book of solid advice, resources, and worksheets helps students and parents join forces to make college more than a traditional stepping stone by forging an experience students can build upon for the rest of their lives.   

William Keator has spent the better part of his career enhancing the college experience for students, directing national grantmaking programs that awarded more than $95 million. He believes college should be about much more than just getting a diploma and a job. That's why he is passionate about helping students develop strong mental habits and transferable skills during their college years. 

The current semester has seen students forced to pivot suddenly in unforeseen ways that, according to Keator, "should lead to high degrees of resilience, grit, and adaptability. If there's a silver lining for students in this pandemic, that's it."

For example, Adam Bynder, from Thousand Oaks, California, attends the University of California, Davis with his sights set on a medical career. "I think the pandemic is helping to develop perseverance and adaptation skills," Adam said. "It's weird to go to a new environment, weirder when that environment is in quarantine, and weirdest when you've been in a pandemic so long, changes you've been forced to make actually start to seem 'normal.'  It's important to persevere through the quarantine and retain hope that life on campus will eventually look the way my parents keep telling me it's supposed to be!"

"It's definitely not what I expected, because it still sort of feels like high school!" he continued. "Online classes and way fewer kids on campus make it seem like a rollback from senior year, and I can't shake the feeling I'm still missing out."

Adam says, "Since this is my first experience in college and living on campus, this is going to become 'normal' for me pretty quickly. Next year (cross our fingers), if the virus gets eradicated, college might seem very strange to me as all services and clubs would open up and there will be way more people around.  I'd actually get to see the inside of classroom buildings too," he said.

Freshman Justin Perez, from Keizer, Oregon was accepted with a scholarship to California's Woodbury University, just before the COVID outbreak. Since attending classes in person was not an option, he elected to defer his admission and attend Salem's Chemeketa Community College while awaiting this educational nightmare to abate.

"This is not how I imagined my first year of college," Justin said. "I didn't foresee online-only classes, but I do like how I can work on my own time." He does, however, miss the experience of attending college in an actual classroom. "I can't socialize with my classmates either. I can email or set up a Zoom call, but it's just not the same." 

Justin envisions this remote requirement continuing for two years, and then hopes to experience on-campus life at Woodbury or, perhaps, UCLA. "So even though the pandemic sucks, I'm getting used to working from home. And without distractions, it's a little easier to pull off."

Author Keator hopes students take the negatives COVID presents during their college years and turn them into life-long positives. His book will help. When Eagles Launch is available at Amazon.com.

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SOURCE William Keator