What attitudes and behaviors will help you to achieve your goals and be successful in college? If you are fresh out of high school, it will be important for you to learn to deal with more freedom. Your college instructors are not going to tell you what, how, or when to study. In almost every aspect of your life, you will have to have primary responsibility for your own attitudes and behaviors.

If you are a nontraditional student, you might find yourself with less freedom than others in your college: You might have a difficult daily commute, or you might have to arrange and pay for child care. You might have to manage work and school responsibilities and still find time for family and other duties. You may also need to let your family know that attending college means that you have to spend time studying, and that you may ask them for help or need their support more than ever.

The practical challenges you are facing may worry you. But what will motivate you to be successful? What about the enormous investment of time and money that getting a college degree requires? Are you convinced that the investment will pay off? Have you selected a major, or is this on your list of things to do? Do you know where to go when you need help with a personal or financial problem?

Thoughts like these are very common. Although your classmates might not say it out loud, many of them share your doubts and fears. This course will be a safe place for you to talk about all of these issues with people who care about you and your success in college.