What We’re Reading: The Her Campus Guide to College Life

What We’re Reading: The Her Campus Guide to College Life

As a current graduating high school senior, I have TONS of questions regarding what to expect come this coming fall as I start my freshman year of college. From internships, to eating healthy, to maintaining a strong GPA and still having a strong social life, there are so many things to take into account and it can be incredibility overwhelming. Luckily for me the millions of other girls (myself included) looking towards or currently in college, Her Campus has provided us with the answers to many of our questions with the ultimate college girl handbook.

Written by Her Campus founders, Stephanie Kaplan Lewis, Annie Chandler Wang, and Windsor Hanger Western, in addition to editors from Her Campus, 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 stands out from other college guides because of its sheer authenticity. As an incoming freshman, I am routinely asked what school I am attending this fall, what major I am pursing, and the location my soon-to-be college is in, yet there are so many things often unspoken in dialogues surrounding starting college. While college is an amazing time filled with many opportunities, being offered a transparent depiction into the glamorous and even the not-so-glamorous parts of college beyond the surface area is refreshing and incredibly necessary.

The Her Campus Guide to College Life,touches on topics such as sexual assault, unhealthy relationships, dating, dorm and party safety, healthy nutrition, eating disorders, maintain a good sleep schedule, what do when you get sick, how to stay safe around drinking, smoking, and drugs, mental health, sexual health, developing and keeping successful relationships with your significant other, peers, roommates, RA’s, teaching assistants, and professors, juggling a thriving social life while simultaneously having a stellar academic and extracurricular agenda, smart finances, landing your dream job and internship, studying abroad, and of course as a 21st century collegiate, maintaining a social media presence, plus so much more. Whew, that’s a mouthful!

The book acts as the tell-all older sister who just graduated college everyone wants to call up when facing college excitement, woes, and worries. Not only does this book cover almost everything imaginable as a collegiate (or “collegiette,” as Her Campus calls college women), but also it provides incredibly thoughtful, informative, and helpful answers and tidbits to even the most embarrassing and unthinkable questions.

Let’s face it: starting your freshman year of college is one of the most exciting and stressful times in your life. With so many “unknown” variables, factors, and faces, it is almost impossible not to feel lost at some point within your collegiate career. The Her Campus Guide to College Life provides the roadmap for you, giving you step-by-step coverage for even the detours, wrong turns, and road bumps you may face along the way, as it leads you to your final destination happy, healthy, and successful, helping in making the trajectory of your college experience the best it can be.

In a few months I will be packing for college and I can assure you, The Her Campus Guide to College Life will be one of the first things I put into my suitcase!

Cover image courtesy of Her Campus.