Belly flops, attitude, over confidence and under achievement…it’s all there in Tales of Academic Survival.

The honest and encouraging anthology is a collection of personal essays written by real-life students and staff at the University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu to encourage and inspire other college students on their path to graduation and beyond.

“At UH West Oʻahu, we have a large number of first-generation college students, some of whom are juggling several jobs and family responsibilities as they make their way through tests, papers and group projects,” says anthology editor Emily Nye, director of the campus’s Writing and Learning Center. “I wanted to find a way to honor and encourage students new to the academic culture.”

In the essays, the writers share their college experience first-hand—stories, strategies and insights for successfully completing the journey to a bachelor’s degree.

Even the foreward by Chancellor Gene Awakuni, provides a personal history. “When I first started my college journey, I had no idea how daunting the challenges would be for someone like me coming from a working class background with no role models to follow,” he writes. Motivating stories from teachers and mentors helped Awakuni complete degrees at Leeward Community College, UH Mānoa and graduate school on the mainland.

The anthology will be distributed to all new UH West Oʻahu students during fall 2009 freshman orientation. It is also available for download at the Writing and Learning Center website.

Publication was made possible by a grant from the University of Hawaiʻi Diversity and Equity Initiative.

Tags: books, May09 issue, publication, UH West Oahu