It is almost here, the first semester of college for the Class of 2020! Presumably it has been a long summer of preparation (and hopefully reading!). Now the time has come to proceed into the next stage of your lives: UMass. As you all ready yourselves for this huge leap forward in your lives, you may wonder why the Common Read is the program used to welcome the incoming class of first years. Each year the Common Read sets out to find a socially relevant and thought provoking book to gift the incoming class. The gift of a book has many functions; it provides the exciting reading experience, the opportunity to learn, a topic of discussion, common ground among fellow students, and then chances to learn some more. The Common Read helps integrate new students into the university environment by bringing them in with a shared experience that is conducive to education, good conversation, and community-building.
Make Your Home Among Strangers expands on the classic coming-of-age story, with Lizet, a girl that has spent her whole life in Hialeah, a low-income, majority Hispanic neighborhood, leaving to an elite college many states away. This year, the story is meant to inspire, allow for a sneak peek at life at college, and consider the diverse backgrounds of people that come to college. The themes of this year’s Common Read include the experience of first-generation college students, diversity on campus, and home and belonging. The power of this narrative is meant to enlighten and establish thoughtful dialogues about diversity and the college experience. These are important things for incoming UMass students to be thinking about as well. Thus, with the Common Read this year we are hoping to foster an environment of inclusion and help new students from all walks of life feel as though they have a home at UMass.
The Common Read functions as a way to ease new students into college. UMass has a whole world of exciting opportunities to offer; it may truly be overwhelming. You know from the book that Lizet did not have the hang of things right away. The transition can be trying and nerve-racking, but with the Common Read, everyone is in this together, unified in this major step forward. It does not all end when the semester begins. Jennine Capo Crucet, the author of Make Your Home Among Strangers, will visit campus later in September to keep the dialogue going and guide you forward with discussion about social issues, education, and the future. In these ways, the Common Read adds up to much more than a book. With this program, you will be aided forward as you all make some of the biggest development and decisions of your life. What lies ahead is an incredible experience full of new people and space to grow. We wish you the best of luck and hope Make Your Home Among Strangers has had a positive impact on everyone! Again, welcome UMass Class of 2020.