Dear Students

Reviews / Votes

"What a gift is this little guidebook! For all the marginalized and disenfranchised students-or any students, in fact-who wonder how to cope with the 'hidden curriculum' and their own 'imposter syndrome,' here are the real answers. Meredith Madden, renowned for connecting with anyone she teaches, tells the secrets of how to 'do college.' Served up in readable, bite-sized bits of memorable but totally practical wisdom-things you can actually do, things that work-Madden helps students become the masters of their own education while forging the relationships with peers and teachers that can best help them succeed."
Daniel F. Chambliss, Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, Hamilton College "This is the 'handbook' I wish had been in my hands as a first-year student at a predominantly white liberal arts college as one of 12 Black students recruited, essentially, to integrate the institution. One parent came from a university-educated family, but she was an immigrant. The other parent finished his high-school equivalency in the US Army. Neither were equipped to guide or offer specific help. Dear Students: 10 Letters to Empower and Transform Your Higher Education Journey is a volume of 'multilingual' letters, so speaks as academic advisor, professor, and parent with concrete how-tos accompanied by institutional, socio-political, and psychological explanations of what students experience often without being able to comprehend fully. Therefore, they fall into the default: self-blame, shame, guilt with not many places to turn. This volume is exactly the resource needed to help ALL students engage fully, take risks, work hard, seek advice and support, and, simply, to bring their whole selves into the higher-education institution. Bravo!"
Margo Okazawa-Rey, Professor Emerita, San Francisco State University