A study that shows nearly 70% of professing Christians students will “chuck their faith” and stop attending church during the ages of 18-22… they can also fail to thrive by refusing to grow up.

Review: Thriving at College: Make Great Friends, Keep Your Faith, and Get Ready for the Real World, Alex Chediak, Tyndale House Publishers, 2011.

Author Alex Chediak, in his book Thriving at College, contends that many if not most Christian high school students are ill prepared for college life. Too many enter higher education with little to no preparation for the sudden change in responsibility and freedom. Mr. Chediak includes himself in this description and thus has written Thriving at College as if he were writing to a younger version of himself. The result is a practical and edifying book that all prospective and even current college students (at least those in their early years of college) should read and expect to profit from.

Chediak pulls no punches when it comes to his expectations for professing Christians who enter college. He references a study that shows nearly 70% of professing Christians students will “chuck their faith” and stop attending church during the ages of 18-22. Why do so many seemingly turn their backs on their faith? Chediak gives a number of compelling reasons. For some, the Christian faith was never really theirs to begin with. For others, the pressures (more so but not unique to secular schools) from unbelieving professors, the temptations of sin, the lack of personal responsibility, etc., can all culminate in a weak foundation (the foolish man who built his house on the sand), resulting in so many who turn away from the claims of Christianity.

For this reason alone, Thriving at College is worth the read. Alex Chediak encourages his readers to put together an action plan now in order to prepare spiritually for the real dangers Christian young people face when leaving home for college. He rightly exhorts his audience to commit to finding a church home in which to worship, to read and study God’s Word on a daily basis, to set apart a time for prayer, and to seek out fellow Christian students who are also serious about their faith. With a firm foundation in place, a Christian can thrive spiritually in a college and dorm setting.

Not only can college students chuck their faith, they can also fail to thrive by refusing to grow up, and parents are not exempt from at least some of the blame. The problem of so-called “helicopter parenting” (those parents who refuse to allow their sons or daughters to fail or pay the price for their failure) is mentioned by Chediak as a prime explanation for why so many college students fail when away from home. (As a current high school teacher, I can identify all too well with this issue).

Rather than teaching their child to learn to take responsibility and, yes, even to learn from their failures and pay for the consequences, now when a crisis is met, all that is needed is to call mom or dad to see if they can fix the problem. It is for this reason that I, too, would recommend Thriving at College, not only for young people, but also for their parents.

Incoming (and current) college students will find Alex Chediak’s advice on the proper use of time to be most helpful. In a chapter entitled “Treating College as if it were High School,” the author elicits sound counsel regarding the importance of setting and sticking to a schedule. Rather than treating down-time as an opportunity for constant entertainment (he also has a chapter called “Wasting Opportunities”), the student who seeks to thrive will recognize that time is valuable and that his or her calling at this point is to be a student who seeks to glorify God as a student.

While Chediak recognizes the need for recreation and rest, he also notes how the many distractions that students face (from technology – especially Facebook, video games, socializing, etc.), can quickly lead to failure. Using his own sample schedule as a guide, students will be better equipped for how to make better use of their time, including how many credit hours to take, how much time to study for each course, when to start on homework, how to approach your professors when you have a question or concern, and even how to schedule in those times of rest.

Readers will also benefit from Mr. Chediak’s direction on such topics as credit cards, employment while in college, seeking a potential spouse, how to choose a major, and other issues dealt with in a thorough yet easy to read manner. I was especially appreciative of his handling of whether or not to attend a Christian or secular Institution. While Alex Chediak sees more benefit in attending a Christian college or university, he does not fall into the trap of becoming overly dogmatic. Each student’s situation is unique, and there are a number of reasons for why a Christian might choose to attend a secular school.

Thriving at College is a stimulating read that can be beneficial for students and parents alike. Study questions at the end of each chapter make this ideal for an individual or small group setting. Christian high schools might even consider incorporating this book in a senior high Bible class, as so much of the material would even be beneficial to apply while in high school. However it is used, Thriving at College is sure to equip Christian young people with biblical and common sense tools for making college a time to succeed. I highly recommend Alex Chediak’s superb work.

Alex Chediak is an author, speaker, and an associate professor of engineering and physics at California Baptist University. Alex has been involved in campus ministries and mentoring students for many years. He has published numerous articles in Boundless, an online magazine for young adult Christians, and he is the author of 5 Paths to the Love of Your Life and With One Voice. Alex has an MS and PhD in engineering from University of California–Berkeley. Originally from the Chicago area, Alex and his wife, Marni, and their three children now reside in Riverside, California. He maintains a blog at www.alexchediak.com.

Matt Holst teaches high school Biblical Studies and History at Evangelical Academy in Colorado Springs. He is also a pastoral intern at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Falcon, Colo.