Dear Student,

Congratulations and welcome to college! If this class marks the beginning of your college experience, welcome to a new chapter in your life. If you’re returning to college, welcome back as you continue your educational adventure. We’re excited for you to start this class, and we’ve written this book to help you develop the skills you’ll need to succeed in school right now and in your career for years to come.

As educators we’ve spent many years focused on helping college students succeed. We’ve had the wonderful privilege of working closely with students as they learn inside and outside of class. It’s always a tremendous thrill to help students explore their passions, nurture their talents, learn about themselves, overcome challenges, and ultimately discover their life path. Now as authors, we’re excited to join you on this journey.

You’ll soon discover that Connections is different from your other textbooks. Rather than simply presenting information to you, we encourage you to engage with the material, act on it, and make it your own. Along with traditional textbook features — like facts, research, stories, and diagrams — the following pages are filled with ideas, activities, questions, tips, and exercises. With this book and in this class, you’ll not only learn, you’ll use what you learn to develop as a student and as a person. You’ll have the chance to reflect, think critically, make connections, try new things, and set goals. At every stage, we’ll help you figure out what works, change what doesn’t, and celebrate your successes.

We wrote down the ideas and activities in Connections so that you might take them, shape them in a way that works for you, and use them to succeed. We promise that we put a ton of time, energy, brain power — and even some creativity! — into this book, and we ask that you put your own time, energy, brain power, and creativity into trying out the ideas in each chapter.

In our experience, the exact combination of strategies that helps each student succeed is unique to that student. We hope that the ideas in Connections will spark in you the creation of new skills and practices that help you accomplish your goals — both during your time in college and beyond.

Wishing you all the best,

Paul, Wade, and A.J.