Book and DVD Set, 2011, $19.95
DaveRamsey.com
The Graduate’s Survival Guide: Setting You up for Success in College includes a DVD and a Q&A book about college life, finances and more. Rachel Cruze (daughter of Dave Ramsey) and others present some insights about college life, covering a wide variety of topics.
The short clips provide an informal discussion of some of the issues college students face with the intent to serve as a tool for graduates, focusing on information that’s especially helpful to college freshmen. As youth workers, it might be hard to get excited talking about college life and finances with youth—not exactly an exciting topic that will draw them into our churches so our church board will be happy with our attendance. Talking about credit cards and student loans is not a great lead-in to an altar call or great follow-up to the game we spent hours crafting.
However, we must spend more time in our youth ministries talking about the practical things our youth are facing and will face instead of focusing on more entertaining topics. Talking about roommate relationships can lead to real and deeply spiritual discussions about learning to live in community (in youth group and college) that should matter to youth workers. The issues covered in this resource are worth talking about and addressing with our youth.
As a fan of Dave Ramsey’s work, I had high expectations for this product; but overall, I was disappointed. I am thankful for the information provided, and the DVD sessions are divided well and are appropriate in length. Unfortunately, they do not address all the topics the product claims to address, at least not with any depth. The videos were difficult to relate to and superficial; and while the individuals talking seemed sincere, I did not find them to be very authentic. It is also difficult for me to imagine many youth connecting with the various individuals on these videos who seem so well put together—the ilk our youth try so hard to be.
The book and the video seem to focus more on telling students what to do than teaching them how to think and discuss key issues, which does not fit the developmental realities of older high school youth in my opinion. Also, I was disappointed in the lack of focus on the role faith plays regarding the issues addressed. Finally, given the reality that many of our youth may not go to college, this is not a product I would use in my youth ministry setting. Rather, it can be a helpful tool in equipping parents to find ways to talk about and prepare their teenagers for college.
Disclaimer from Publicist: “The Graduate’s Survival Guide is not a youth ministry product. It was intended as a resource that parents or other adults could give to teens headed off to college.”
