‘Leaping From A Top U’ To The World Of Publishing

Kate Jackson ’04 and Christina D. Zaroulis ’06 have recently become published authorities on two major obstacles in the lives of many students.

While Jackson’s advice addresses what she says is the often frightening transition from large public high schools to top-notch universities, Zaroulis’ area of expertise lies in the procrastination-prone, turn-it-in-or-don’t-graduate high school term paper.

These two budding authors have joined a string of Harvard students who have written and edited these largely anecdotal high school and college guides for the new “Students Helping Students” book series, published by the Independent Publishers Group.

All of the guides claim that they contain “only the most relevant and helpful advice” written “for students by students.”

They include witty quotes, quick tips and short essay samples from students who have successfully wrestled with pressing high school and college topics, like navigating the whirlwind world of extracurricular activities or locating a good adviser.

Come study card time, first-years can turn to Fishing for a Major, written by Julio Machado ’03. And four years later, seniors should be able to make good use of the guide titled Conquering Your Undergraduate Thesis.

Jackson’s book, Leaping from a Public School to a Top U., is among the more personal volumes of the series. In her book, she describes her own jump from a large public high school in Dayton, Ohio, to Harvard—with all of its demands and expectations.

She writes humorously about how she threw away the huge piles of mail that Harvard sent her the summer before her first year, annoyed that they were not housing information. She found out later that she trashed the required “Reflections on Diversity” reading for the annual freshmen week discussion.

One of the Jackson’s main tidbits of advice regards the seemingly harmless but often aggravating explanation of one’s college choice. Jackson poses the typical question to her readers, usually asked by a person she calls “some well-meaning but thoroughly perplexed friend of the family or parent of a friend”:

“Why are you going to [insert name of your university]? What’s wrong with [insert name of local college or university]?”

Other parts of Jackson’s guide are more inspirational. In the author’s note, for example, she attempts to reach out to her target audience of students from public schools who may be the first in their family or town to go to a prestigious college: “You have nothing to lose and a lifetime of wonderful memories and experiences to gain.”

Jackson’s premise did receive criticism from a few college deans and other administrators she contacted for the guide. Jackson tells stories of administrators who said that average public school students “are at no disadvantage” when competing with privately schooled students at the university level.

Her tone and those of the contributors throughout the book, however, indicate a different take on the situation.

According to Jackson, the best piece of advice in her book is a quotation from another student telling readers to be conscious of their family and social backgrounds. “The resources and motivations you bring from your family and personal background are always relevant—they’ll always be with you,” the student wrote.

Zaroulis’ guide, Tackling Your High School Term Paper, will be published in August. She found out about the “Students Helping Students” guides from her older brother, who heard of the books through the Office of Career Services at Harvard.

Where Jackson’s guide touched on personal themes, Zaroulis’ stuck with the practical. Subjects included “choosing a topic, formulating a question, and directly answering the question,” she says. Rather than interviewing reluctant college administrators, she was able to talk to some of her own teachers at the Groton school.

Both authors were paid a lump sum for each draft of their work, and will receive royalties on each book sold. The glossy, five-by-seven handbooks sell for $6.95 each.

But neither plans to get rich off their work. Jackson said her motivation was just to “get published.” Zaroulis simply wanted something to do during her year off between high school and college.

“You do a whole lot of work to get your name out there,” Jackson says.

—Staff writer Lisa M. Puskarcik can be reached at puskarc@fas.harvard.edu.