Beacon Falls woman pens book to aid college students

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Beacon Falls resident Annette Bosley-Boyce recently published her first book, ‘The College Success Plan,’ to help college students find their way. -CONTRIBUTED

BEACON FALLS — Annette Bosley-Boyce, who has worked as an administrator and adjunct professor in higher education for more than 12 years, has noticed a disturbing trend in higher education.

“Only 36 percent of today’s college students are graduating in four years. Fifty-seven percent are taking six years to graduate,” said Bosley-Boyce, a Beacon Falls resident.

Bosley-Boyce explained students are unsure of what direction they would like to go in after college, which leads to more years in college.

“They come to expect that there will be advisors or somebody along the way helping them. Unless they seek out somebody along the way to help them they are just lost,” Bosley-Boyce said. “They pick out classes online. They pick a major on a whim and decide it is not right for them.”

This is where Bosley-Boyce found her inspiration to write a book to help students heading to college.

The book, titled “The College Success Plan,” is comprised of 20 different lessons, each with a self-assessment, covering areas such as career planning, resume writing, college planning, scholarships, and financial aid.

The book is laid out to be completed over four weeks, with each week focusing on a different category. The categories are self discovery, career smarts, college smarts, and applying with confidence.

Each week there are five daily activities for students to complete.

Teenagers can start working with this book before they even graduate from high school.

“My thought is before they even begin applying for college they need to start developing a plan,” Bosley-Boyce said.

The book also includes a section for parents and educators to learn how they can help their children or students prepare for college.

There is also a website, www.thecollegesuccessplan.com, which students can use to learn about the book. The website does not stop at providing information about the book, however. Students can sign up for and take classes through the website. Currently, the two classes being offered are The College Success Plan and How to Write a Stand-Out College Application Essay. Each course costs $325.

Bosley-Boyce said it’s important for students to have an idea of the direction they want to head in life before they head off to college.

“Sometimes students go into college and they don’t realize they will need their master’s degree. Sometimes students get into a situation where they don’t realize they only needed their associate’s degree, not their bachelor’s,” Bosley-Boyce said.

That is why the first week of The College Success Plan helps students choose career paths based on skills, amount of education needed, salary, and employment outlook.

Bosley-Boyce also wanted to inform teens about the amount of student debt they can accumulate over their time at college.

She said many college graduates have debt they will have to pay off over 20 years. One of her hopes in writing this book is to help teens find the correct path and accelerate their time at college so they are able to graduate with less debt.

“The myth is that you are a teenager you have the rest of your life to decide what you want to do,” Bosley-Boyce said. “Teens these days, if they are going to be signing into a lot of student loan debt, should have an idea of what they want to do.”

The College Success Plan is available at www.amazon.com and at the Beacon Falls Pharmacy.