Jason Hardtke found himself at a crossroads when he graduated from high school. He received a full scholarship to play baseball at Arizona State University. At the same time, he was drafted in the third round by the Cleveland Indians. Although he chose baseball and wound up playing for both the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs, the lack of a college education always lingered at the back of his mind. Now he coaches for the Arizona Diamondbacks as well as runs his own baseball academy, and he thought that the timing was perfect to head back to college. An online degree fit his needs and lifestyle perfectly. “I travel half the year with the Diamondbacks, and it would be impossible for me to attend college in the traditional fashion,” he explains.

Now that Jason is in college, he’s found that applying the same level of commitment to his academic work as he does to his professional work helps him succeed. “I’ve learned that academic writing is all about preparation. It is just like anything else that we do in life,” he says. Jason knows that his writing process begins with careful research and note taking. Next he creates an outline to help him organize his thoughts followed by a rough draft. The most important step, though, comes with rewriting and editing, and making sure that he has the time to work these essential steps into his overall process. “It takes a while to check everything, from spelling and grammar to the flow and rhythm of the writing; all of them are pivotal in keeping the interest of the reader,” he notes.

Like many adult students, Jason has skills that translate easily to an academic setting and that give him an advantage in his classes. His communication skills had already been honed by his years of work. “I was running my business prior to entering college and had to be very professional in communicating with customers on the phone and in person,” he explains. “I got a crash course on marketing, budgeting, and HR (human resources) as well, and that taught me the importance of professionalism and making a good first impression.” Presenting in online classes, however, offered him the opportunity to develop some new skills. “I have made a few different PowerPoint presentations in my classes. The first one I did I had to learn as I went. I had no idea how the PowerPoint process worked, but to my surprise it was easy, and I like the format,” he says.

Now, as Jason works toward finishing his degree, he advises other students, “Be prepared, not only in doing the research and properly constructing a paper, but also in making sure that you have ample time to get the job done the right way without having to cut corners.”

As Jason’s story illustrates, the ability to write and speak well makes a tremendous difference in how the rest of the world perceives you and how well you will be able to communicate throughout your life. But you will find that you often need to communicate differently depending on your audience. It’s generally OK to use informal writing with your friends, family, and other students, for example, but your instructors and potential employers will expect more formality. Our purpose in this chapter is not to teach you grammar and punctuation (we’ll save that for your English classes), but to get you to think of writing and speaking as some of the most important skills you will develop or improve in college.

In addition, to be successful at communicating, you must know how to manage information. Developing the skills to locate, analyze, and use information will significantly enhance your ability to keep up with what is going on in the world; to participate in activities that interest you; and to succeed in college, career, and community. The research skills you learn and use as a student will serve you well as a successful professional. That holds true for whatever career path you choose. Whether you’re studying biology, engineering, business, or public relations, your task in college is to manage information for projects and presentations. In a few years, as a lab technician, a project coordinator, a loss-prevention specialist, or a campaign manager, your task will be the same: to find, manage, and present information for your employers and clients. All colleges and many companies provide libraries for this purpose, but finding and using information involves more than operating a computer or browsing the library bookshelves. To make sense of the vast amount of information at your fingertips in a reasonable amount of time, you’ll need to develop a few key research and information literacy skills.