Why I wrote "Your Mindful Guide to Academic Success: Beat Burnout"

Four passions drove me to write "Your Mindful Guide to Academic Success." One was college counselors reporting that anxiety has replaced depression among their clients. Like you, I’ve seen many books on test success, how to write a research paper and how to study. I’ve seen other books on stress management and wellness, but not a one-stop guide that combines these various skills and suggestions for coping with anxiety.

A second passion is to expose ageism. Feeling that young people are often ignored, blamed, scapegoated, and stereotyped, I traveled around the world talking with young people about their viewpoints and activism. This led to a series of books including "Ageism in Youth Studies" (more titles are found on http://globalyouthbook.wordpress.com). My guess is that you don’t know a lot about the youth-led Arab Spring and the uprisings that followed, so I wrote about them.

A third passion is recognition that we live in an increasingly globalized world, despite the resistance of the alt-right. Students from various countries contributed to the book and report they share common experiences. "Your Mindful Guide" respects global students’ actual experiences and suggestions. The usurpation of teenage years by studying for the college entrance exam in China, India, Japan, South Korea, as well as North America, was an initial catalyst to write the book to make live a little easier for those hard-working students around the world who don’t get enough sleep.

A fourth passion is gender equality (I helped develop the Women’s Studies program at California State University Chico). "Your Mindful Guide" includes Fourth Wave feminism, along with other student activism, such as environmentalism. Actually, a fifth passion is dislike of expensive textbooks, hence a $10 eBook. I invite you to discuss your passions about these educational topics and others.