Modern College, Week 4: WTF are we writing? (Part II)

This post is part of the Modern College book project, in which we will be publicly documenting our experience writing a book on college with the help of the community.

We ended last week with shared insight, eagerness, and excitement. After interviewing a few current college students, Alex and I felt like we were gaining a sense of direction and some positive responses to our thesis statement.

Our two key takeaways included 1) foresight into the reality of our target market being separate from the population we’re actually writing for and 2) topics spanning beyond our personal experiences in college. We closed the week anxious to get in touch with other college students and conduct further field research.

And then we blinked, checked our calendars and realized it was Sunday.

Somewhere in between moving across the country, beginning a job out of college and an infuriating 3-hour time differential between SF and NYC, we found ourselves here. If before we thought we had our work cut out — now we have a whole cheesy pizza to slice, with a plastic butter knife (but hey, pizza is always worth it).

This week was a testament to the power of accountability and communication. Since day one, we established the precedent of structure as our top priority. We’ve since made a point to discuss our accomplishments/shortcomings during the week, submit our weekly blogpost and compose deliverables for the upcoming week.

We shared the same truth: this week, life simply got in the way.

We wanted to emphasize this point. We could’ve fluffed up our content and dusted off iterations of what we’ve already discussed, but we’re choosing not to do so. Authenticity must coexist with our efforts to “open-source” this book. If we intentionally conceal a week that didn’t quite go as planned, we’d be doing a disservice to the process.

We’re choosing to share the step-by-step in order to provide real insight, in real time. We’ve identified a dinosaur-sized blindspot in current books for college students: the time frame during which these resources were written. To bridge the gap between available resources on the college experience and the modern college experience, we’re aiming to be introspective rather than retrospective. So, in essence, this is just us walking our talk.

The truth of the matter is this: time is finite yet we always, 100% of the time every time, find time for things important to us. This week was informative in understanding how to better delegate our time and prioritize. Each week has a different current (as goes life) and this one shed light on the importance of shared communication, partnership, and transparency. If things were to have hit the fan, this week certainly would have been when.

It’s important to acknowledge that Alex and I are both work(s) in progress. Our cadence and time frame of graduation (1 month for me and 2 years for Alex) are reasons we feel compelled to write this book. We have unique, relevant perspectives into the modern college experience because we were immersed in it until recently. And, like virtually all current students and recent grads, we’re figuring life out along the way.

One question from last week was in regards to comprising a book that resonates with college students. Alex and I agreed that, although college is a time abundant in just about everything but leisurely reading, we’d thumbed through a few paradigm-shifting books (i.e. The Defining Decade). We feel equipped to create the resource for modern college students because we are those modern college students.

We wanted to circle back with members of the Modern College Publication, to acknowledge your support and continue forward with current college students who’d be willing to provide insight and join our journey.

We’re moving into this next week refreshed, excited to learn more about the wants and needs of college students and nailing down the gist of our journey.

Until next week!

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