Introduction

How to Win at College

So, you want to read college texts? Or, maybe you just want to read your college texts without falling asleep? Or, maybe you really don’t want to read college texts at all, but you need to do so to pass your classes? We understand! In fact, we know that an essential skill for succeeding in college is being able to read well.

Becoming good at something requires practice. It also requires an understanding of the activity. Reading is no different–except that most people don’t set out to be a good reader. They just assume that students are either good at reading–or not. Actually, anyone can improve their reading skills, which is why this textbook has one main objective: to help you read more effectively.

But, just like getting better at basketball, cooking, or painting, one needs to understand the activity to better understand how to improve their skills. This means that to get to our final objective, we will have to do a few things. This book will explain the reading process. Yes, there actually is a process for effective reading. We will also offer suggestions about how to actively engage in the reading process and give you tips to check your reading comprehension after you have read.

In the end, we hope that your experience with this book helps you feel empowered to win at college.

Do I Really Need to Learn Reading Strategies?

WAIT! Don’t skip this section. As reading professors, we know that part of convincing students to try a strategy is based on convincing them about the usefulness. So, to get our students to take the time to understand and engage in the reading process, we first need to convince them that these strategies are not just for an English class. This involves brainstorming when and how we use reading: you can try it yourself right now. Take 30 seconds to think about all the times you might read something each day. Your list might include the following:

• • Social media posts
  • Texts from family
  • Work emails
  • Summaries of shows on Netflix
  • Description of a new smart phone
  • Online news articles
  • Directions for completing a job evaluation at work

The point is that we probably all read more than we realize.

Now, take 30 more seconds to consider your future career. What might you need to read? Job announcements, technical manuals, customer service policies, client letters, office visit notes… you get the picture. We hope that this book offers strong strategies to help you read all kinds of career documents more efficiently and with greater confidence.