To have thousands of people, who will be going to school together, read the same book is to give them all a shared experience. That experience and the knowledge that comes with it becomes a social staple in the community. Many conversations will be started on or fall back on the ideas for which The True American has initiated a dialogue. The UMass Common Read is truly a gift that keeps on giving. Knowledge and experience are priceless and to have these things in common with a large body of people is something rare and wonderful.
Being handed a book, asked to read it, and carry on through college may seem like a concept with an ambiguous purpose or a social experiment. However, the Common Read has developed into a significant facet of student life at UMass Amherst. Each year a book is specially chosen based on its merit and the importance or relevance of the ideas it grapples with. Every first-year is provided with this book over the summer, in what is usually the transitional period between high school and college, when minds are not occupied with school work, but rather with all that lies ahead, how big the world is, and all it has to offer.
In this way, the Common Read encourages students to be open-minded and considerate of everyone and their surroundings. Focus is imperative in many situations, but narrowness of vision is detrimental, so the Common Read aims to promote thinking beyond oneself and one’s own studies. Providing new perspectives has been one of the major goals of the Common Read since its beginning. Especially in The True American you will read about the lives of those often marginalized in society, including immigrants, Muslims, and the impoverished. Such insight is enlightening and helpful for entering into college as one of many in a massive student body.
Essentially, the Common Read functions on the principle that it is not just what you know, but how you apply your knowledge in life. Reading The True American together builds an understanding of the varying experiences people have and the way we think as individuals. Socializing and communal thinking are prominent themes in the book that urge similar thinking in students. This kind of behavior positively benefits all members of the student body, plus allows new opportunities for using knowledge from one’s field of study in the real world. The Common Read is the glue that holds the college experience together, bonding the people with the academics, and, thus, establishing unified culture of conscious students.
Written by Daniel Beckley, a senior at Umass Amherst, studying English, Communication, and Public Policy