Everyone knows that “you can’t judge a book by it’s cover”, but here’s a lesser known fact: a book can’t judge you. Okay so you probably had a vague idea that because books aren’t sentient they can’t be judgmental but have you ever stopped to appreciate it? I did exactly that while reading The Her Campus Guide to College Life.
I’ll be honest and say that advice-y books aren’t really my thing, in fact I haven’t opened one since skimming through the copy of The Naked Roommate I was given as a graduation gift last year. I remember having about eighty billion questions I NEEDED to know the answers to before going to college, so I skimmed The Naked Roommate hoping to find some of them. I’ll admit to being pretty disappointed in it. Where Roommate fails, Her Campus Guide succeeds spectacularly. I can’t reccommed this book for anyone who’s had a year at college, because honestly, most of it is stuff you can learn through experience, but if you’ve just graduated high school and are looking for some answers to college questions, you need to get your hands on a copy of this book.
Now here’s where I get into the part about judgment; let’s say you want to know about drinking or smoking in college, but don’t feel comfortable asking an adult or older friend, you don’t have to worry about that when you go to a book for advice. Her Campus Guide gives you the facts, it doesn’t try to make decisions for you, it tells it like it is. I appreciated this approach, because at this stage in our lives, it can often feel like everyone is telling us how to live our lives, so it can be nice to read an unbiased source. Not to mention, a ton of the stuff in here is just plain good to know. Staying safe on campus: check, Eating healthy in the dining hall: check, Making friends: check.
As far as shortcomings, the only thing that bothered me was that many of the pieces of advice given don’t apply to people going to a small school like Sewanee, but other than that I really loved this book, and had a good time reading it. If you like Her Campus (which given that you’re reading this, I assume you do) then you’re sure to like this book! Check it out on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.