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Embrace Your Freedom

Winning Strategies to Succeed in College and in Life

Published by Post Hill Press
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

Embrace Your Freedom delivers straight talk about how students can achieve a life-changing college experience, and how parents can help them make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Philip A. Glotzbach cuts through the contemporary fog of misinformation about going to college. He speaks directly to new students about what a college education is for… and how not to mess it up. This information is enormously useful for parents, as well—helping them understand what their child will encounter and how best to support them on this transformative journey.

Drawing on decades of experience in higher education, Glotzbach invites students to approach their college years with soaring expectations and effectively pursue their aspirations, from the very first day! Written in a conversational tone and illustrated with authentic student stories, Embrace Your Freedom offers practical, down-to-earth guidance about the decisions and actions that enable students to complete their college career with satisfaction and pride. It also addresses the vital issues of student mental health, novel drug threats, generative AI, cyberbullying, gun-related campus violence, contested speech, and many others.

This book highlights the skills students need to thrive in the 21st century work-world. It also challenges them to understand and embrace their new level of freedom, take charge of their well-being, to balance work and play, take good risks, learn from failure, and prepare to claim their place as informed and responsible citizens in our democratic republic. Although these goals can feel overwhelming for any student, achieving them establishes core values that define a purposeful and powerful undergraduate experience—one that leads to the accomplishments that ultimately make a college degree worth the time, effort, and expense it involves.

About The Author

Dr. Philip A. Glotzbach served as president of Skidmore College for seventeen years. During that time, he led initiatives to enhance its academic offerings, student body diversity, finances and financial aid, infrastructure and physical landscape, and national reputation. Prior to arriving at Skidmore, Glotzbach served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and then vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Redlands. He began his career in the Department of Philosophy at Denison University, where he taught for fifteen years. Across his academic career, he has written, spoken, and consulted on a broad range of topics. He is well-known as a commentator and outspoken champion of American higher education.

Glotzbach earned his BA in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame (summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa), and his MA, M.Phil., and Ph.D. in philosophy at Yale University. He has received honorary degrees from Centre College, Denison University, and Skidmore College.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Post Hill Press (September 18, 2024)
  • Length: 336 pages
  • ISBN13: 9798888454367

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Raves and Reviews

“Every year, millions of young people all over the world go to college … and so, in a sense, do their parents. In this vividly written and often wise book, educator and former college president Philip Glotzbach offers sane advice, first to students, then to their parents – about the major life transition they are about to experience.”

– Howard Gardner, Ph.D., Hobbes Research Professor of Cognition and Education, Harvard University Graduate School of Education

“The journey to and through college is riddled with anxiety. This thought-provoking book helps students and parents navigate the process, while asking bigger questions and generating excitement. What is the purpose of a college education? How do I build a meaningful life in college and beyond? What contributions might I make in the world? Only an experienced college president, philosopher, and parent could write a book permeated with such warmth, wisdom, and challenge. If you’re a student or parent on the journey to college, use this book as both a roadmap and a spark for conversations.”

– Angel B. Pérez, CEO, National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC)

“Philip Glotzbach challenges today’s college students to embrace their new level of freedom and take full responsibility for their college and post-college lives. Even more importantly, he describes effective ways for them to do so. This guidance is precisely what new college and university students most need today.”

– Philip C. McGraw Ph. D., “Dr. Phil”, Psychologist, television host, producer, philanthropist, and bestselling author

“A superb book, full of wise advice, well researched and well written, and brimming with authentic stories. It strikes me that this book should be of interest to all of us, not only college students and parents of college students, but everyone who wants to be thoughtful about how to live their life and make use of the opportunities presented to them.”

– Alan Paige Lightman, Ph.D., Physicist, Professor of the Practice of Humanities, MIT, and bestselling author of Einstein’s Dreams (among many other books)

“I loved reading this book. It’s filled with so much wisdom. It does a wonderful job of synthesizing all the advice college students need.”

– Adam S. Weinberg, Ph.D., President, Denison University

“This book is truly fabulous – it made me want to start college all over again. I love it! I want to buy copies for all the students and parents I work with.”

– Judy Campbell, Founder, Emeritus College Counseling

“This is indeed a book I wish I’d read when I was eighteen!”

– Dennis Johnson, Co-founder and Publisher, Melville House

“Philip Glotzbach may be the last of a breed of educators who believe students can learn to think critically for themselves, by far the greatest freedom a college education can impart. He also provides invaluable guidance for parents to help them support their student in this journey."

– John R. MacArthur, Publisher of Harper’s Magazine and Skidmore Parent

“This book does a fine thing for generations of students (and their parents) who will profit from its wisdom. Above all, it offers them two things that are sadly in short supply today: empowerment and hope.”

– Moisés Kaufman, Founder and Artistic Director, TECTONIC Theater Project

“A ‘powerful and adaptable intellectual toolkit’ for today’s professional world.”

Publishers Weekly

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