“I Thought I was well prepared for college. I had attended a solid college prep high school and was a good student. I was well grounded in a Christian world view and knowledgeable about a host of other world views. I’d sunk my teeth into the basics of orthodox Christianity, the Christian classics, compassionate conservatism, and was good to go. Turns out, I was wrong.”
This book is essential battle gear! Fish Out of Water, Surviving and Thriving as a Christian on a Secular Campus should be in every student’s arsenal before they ever set foot on campus.
College student, Abby Nye, gives an up-to-date, “inside-look” at what goes on at the typical college campus. Abby does a great job of exposing the struggles of being a victorious Christian in, and out, of the classroom. She tackles topics like: “Welcome Week,” “Behind Closed Doors” (of the classroom), “Responding to Tolerance,” “The Fear Factor,” “The Party Scene,” and “Picking your Battles.” The book gives a clear picture of the way things are, while also giving students practical suggestions on how to “Survive and Thrive.”
Through understanding the importance of having a good background in worldviews and the issues, Abby takes it a step further by helping students deal with the issues of fear, isolation, hostility, ridicule, and labeling (“intolerant,” “judgmental,” etc.). Abby’s background and preparation are pretty impressive (and, as I found from reading her book, she is highly intelligent and capable). Most Christian students are not as well prepared as Abby. If a student like Abby finds it hard to “survive,” what happens to others?
Abby focuses on secular universities, but from our experience, the problems can be just as bad on “Christian” college and university campuses. (See Testimony of a Discouraged Dad)
Get this book! Better yet, get a bunch. Parents, make sure your students don’t go back without this book in their hands. Read it yourself and give it to every parent, youth pastor, Christian teacher, or student (high school or college) you know. You can make a difference. You can help students, not only to “survive,” but to “thrive” in higher education.
Originally published in the November/December 2005 issue of Think & Believe newsletter. Please call our office or email us at [email protected] for additional resources on these subjects.
