How to navigate college with confidence
How do you make the most of out of college?
91抖淫 President Emeritus Philip A. Glotzbach鈥檚 new book, 鈥溾�� (Post Hill Press, July 2024) offers an accessible guide for students and their parents on making the most of the college experience and navigating this once-in-a-lifetime journey.
Drawing on nearly five decades of experience in higher education as a teacher and administrator, including 17 years as president of Skidmore, Glotzbach offers down-to-earth advice on everything from balancing work and play, to taking smart risks and learning from failures.
The book also tackles an array of challenging contemporary topics, including student mental health, contested speech, novel drug threats, and more.
鈥淓mbrace Your Freedom鈥� urges students to seize opportunities, understand and embrace their new independence, and embark on a truly transformative journey, as they develop the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in today鈥檚 fast-paced world and become informed, responsible citizens.
Glotzbach recently spoke about his new book at at , an independent bookseller in Saratoga Springs. The conversation was moderated by Professor of Political Science and Joseph C. Palamountain Jr. Chair in Government Beau Breslin, author of the 2021 book 鈥�A Constitution for the Living: Imagining How Five Generations of Americans Would Rewrite the Nation鈥檚 Fundamental Law.鈥�
鈥淚 wish that I had this when I was going to college; I would've benefited tremendously from it,鈥� Breslin said. 鈥淚 know my parents would've gained so much from it. It was hard for them to let go 鈥� a theme discussed in this great book. It鈥檚 a wonderful resource for college students and their parents.鈥�
Below is an abridged transcript of Glotzbach鈥檚 responses to some of the questions that Breslin and audience members posed at the July 9 event at Northshire Bookstore. 鈥溾�� is available from , , and many other retailers.
Why did you decide to write this book?
Philip Glotzbach: This book has been nearly 50 years in the making. Over my academic and administrative career, I fell in love with teaching and learning. It was so wonderful every year to see new students come to college. In the fall, you have these eager (and sometimes nervous) students and parents 鈥� and I would see so much potential, so much possibility.
I gave a talk to those students and parents each fall and focused on what I thought would be most helpful for them to hear. I always tried to think about just sitting down with a new student and a parent over a cup of coffee: What would I say to them? What would students and parents want to know about? And how could we have that conversation? That鈥檚 what this book is about.
Can you explain the title?
Philip Glotzbach: When students go to college, they experience a new level of freedom. But what does freedom mean?
Often, when we speak about freedom, it means 鈥渄on't tell me what to do鈥� 鈥� the absence of external constraints on behavior. But when you get to college, there is another way of thinking about freedom that is actually much more interesting and appropriate for this new stage of life 鈥� a positive notion of freedom.
As I write in the book, 鈥淭he positive notion of autonomy or freedom is not defined as the absence of external constraints or direction, but rather as the presence of active, internal self-regulation or self-determination 鈥� This kind of self-regulation turns out to be 鈥� more difficult because it places the burden squarely on you to determine what you want to accomplish and then do it. In this context, success is determined not by the absence of restrictions on what you do, but rather by how well you succeed in meeting the goals you set out to achieve.鈥� Certainly, the students I've seen at Skidmore are doing things that they've chosen to do.
A central theme of this book is for students to go to college with a purpose 鈥� to be intentional 鈥� and that's where the positive freedom notion really takes you.
Philip A. Glotzbach signing books at Northshire Bookstore
Can you tell us a little bit more about your view of the importance of taking risks and how a school should encourage that?
Philip Glotzbach: Late adolescents and young adults are inherently wired to take risks. That genetic fact sets them up to be great learners. Paradoxically however, sometimes more academically accomplished students and students at schools with strong reputations can be more risk-averse. They're afraid to take a course where they鈥檙e not confident they鈥檙e going to get an A. (Fortunately, we don鈥檛 see much of this at Skidmore.) So, students do need to be encouraged, I think, to take the right kind of risks.
Of course, none of us wants to fail, but I give examples in the book of people who've learned from or overcome failure. One of my favorite examples is Babe Ruth, who won the batting championship with the highest batting average but also had the most strikeouts in the league 鈥� in the same year. Sometimes, you have to be willing to accept those failures in order to realize the achievements.
One piece of advice that I came up with is, if you're afraid of doing something, find a way to fall in love with it. If you shift your attention to the thing that you're trying to do 鈥� and away from how you feel about it 鈥� your fear can be diminished or even vanish altogether. Also, anxiety and fear are not necessarily negative emotions. Jack Nicklaus, the all-time champion golfer, could not play well unless he was feeling nervous before a tournament. So, embrace your fear, and learn to accept it.
Any advice about picking a major?
Philip Glotzbach: In the first chapter, I talk about the power of appreciating your general education courses. It's really a plea for pursuing a broad liberal education. My argument is that it doesn't really matter what major you choose 鈥� if you are intentional about learning, you can gain the cognitive skills that are essential to succeed in all aspects of life.
That鈥檚 why I write, 鈥渘ever say that you're just 鈥榞etting your general education courses out of the way.鈥欌�� You should pay attention to those courses and gain as much as you can from them. I include several stories of people who took a general education course just because they needed to fulfill a requirement, fell in love with that discipline, and ended up with a great life and career in that field, as opposed to what they'd started out thinking they wanted to do in college (and afterward).
And follow your interests. One significant study showed that people do better both
in college and after college if they pursue a major that they're actually interested
in, as opposed to something that they're doing for purely extrinsic reasons. Another
study showed that only about 30% of college grads actually end up working in an area
directly related to their major. Theater majors, for example, are vastly overrepresented
among the ranks of Fortune 500 CFOs. Even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada
was a theater major.
There are a lot of things that you learn along the way regardless of your major, so study something that you really love. Do something in college that really speaks to your spirit, that feeds who you are, and you'll be better for it.
Why is it important for parents to 鈥渓et go鈥�?
Philip Glotzbach: There's a dilemma at the heart of parenting. On the one hand, we parents have to protect our children and keep them from harm. At the same time, we have to prepare them to head off into the world on their own. Today, one might argue that some parents go too far towards protecting, and so another theme in this book is about helping all parents let go.
A first rule is to let students solve their own problems.
Of course, there may be times when parents feel they need to contact the college or university because something seems to be seriously going wrong. But a second rule is to never insert yourself between your student and someone they're working with on a daily basis. If it's an academic problem, don鈥檛 call the professor; talk to an academic dean or someone at a higher level. If there's a roommate problem, don鈥檛 鈥� God forbid 鈥� talk with the roommate or even an RA; talk to somebody in the student life office whose job it is to resolve problems. Let them have a crack at it.
A third rule is for parents to step back and allow students to learn from their failures as well as their successes. Sometimes, we learn more when we fail than when we succeed.
Is going to a liberal arts college risky?
Philip Glotzbach: No 鈥� it鈥檚 not a risk! Statistically speaking: Students who are fortunate enough to go to liberal arts colleges like Skidmore dramatically outperform students from other kinds of schools later in life. By any measure, whether you're talking about Pulitzer Prizes, doctorates in chemistry, or leadership positions in business 鈥� take your pick 鈥� students who graduate from liberal arts colleges statistically outperform other undergraduate populations.
The reason students do so well is that liberal arts colleges offer fantastic teaching and provide students opportunities to do things that are not possible at other schools. Skidmore isn鈥檛 a place where students can hide in the classroom. They really have to develop the abilities that later on will serve them so well.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
