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Zen and the Art of Navigating College: An Inquiry into the True Nature of Education and the Power of Self-Discovery by Peter Klein
Mascot Books
Book Review by Kat Kennedy
“College offers you the opportunity to start a journey in the search for your best self, personally and professionally.”
In this philosophical work, Klein explores the ways in which college students can get the best out of education, including clear steps on how to do so. He defines his work by stating, “This book uses a metaphorical journey to describe a student’s experience in selecting and attending college.” Using his own experiences of college life, he addresses such subjects as “The Difference between High School and College,” “Shared Cohort Experience,” “Opportunity for Self-Discovery,” “Career Options,” “Deciding on Your Major,” and “Self-Knowledge.” The book offers many valuable insights into the college experience. The author walks the reader through the ways in which one’s college experience can be enhanced by taking courses that don’t pertain to one’s major and utilizing the services offered by the college. Included are an extensive bibliography and index.
The information presented in this work could prove extremely helpful to those just entering their first year of college, as well as those who find themselves searching for direction well into their college years. Klein writes in an informal conversational manner which makes the subject of his book easily accessible and understandable. The inclusion of parables, poems, and philosophy expands one’s understanding of his premise. He offers valuable advice on navigating college and describes the many opportunities of which one can take advantage to enhance the experience of choosing a major and planning for both college and the future. The author uses his own experiences to help define and expound on his subject. The work offers a unique perspective on how to get the best from one’s college years. It is an enjoyable read with many wonderful stories and examples that are sure to help readers find their way during this sometimes frightening and nerve-racking experience.
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Zen and the Art of Navigating College: An Inquiry into the True Nature of Education and the Power of Self-Discovery by Peter Klein
So many books have been written about the college experience that one might wonder at the need for yet another, but Zen and the Art of Navigating College: An Inquiry into the True Nature of Education and the Power of Self-Discovery is as much an art form as it is a guide to higher education, and deserves acclaim for its unusual approach as well as its many insights.
The foundation of this survey lies in its teachings on how to look beyond typical and ordinary perceptions and pursuits of higher education to consider the hidden hazards and opportunities of navigating a foreign realm like college.
This bigger picture involves learning how to strategize, network, and self-promote, showing students how to consider others and present their abilities and potential in a revised light.
Peter Klein’s focus on maximizing the outcome and potential of college expands his subject beyond the usual ‘how to’ realm and into areas of fostering achievement, discovery, and a life approach that will carry new adults through and past their college years with routines that apply equally well to life.
Readers may be surprised to learn that Zen and the Art of Navigating College isn’t a catch-all promotion for higher learning. Klein points out that major problems are inherent in the pursuit of something different. He points out the signs of these portending obstacles, as well as strategies for either avoiding or learning from them.
These obstacles are typically not reviewed in books for the college-bound such as this, but they are ever-present, and are one of the many ways a college education can unwittingly go awry: “Another danger to be aware of is that higher education is often laced with indoctrination. Some indoctrination is supplied under the approval of the institution, while other forms of indoctrination are propagated by fellow students and others affiliated with the university, though what they are offering may not be sanctioned by the college.”
Armed with special knowledge of the opportunities and dangers of such pursuits, readers of all ages will find Zen and the Art of Navigating College covers not just educational quandaries, but social, political, psychological, and spiritual tests inherent in the college milieu, yet rarely presented to students as other areas to be aware of.
The result is a different kind of college educational overview that should be a graduation present to any college-bound student who would take these lessons and run with them into life. Libraries seeking materials that lend especially well to college-bound book discussion groups should make Zen and the Art of Navigating College a mainstay.
