A Western Washington University English professor has published a new book arguing that the habits students form in their very first days on campus are among the most powerful predictors of whether they will graduate. "The First Days of College: 12 Decisions that Change Everything," by WWU Professor Steve VanderStaay, was published by Bloomsbury Academic and hit shelves in July 2026, timed to reach incoming first-year students before fall quarter begins.
VanderStaay brings unusual depth to the subject. In addition to his decades as an English faculty member at Western, he spent 12 years as the university's vice provost for Undergraduate Education and director of First Year Programs, roles that put him in direct contact with the patterns that separate students who thrive from those who struggle or leave. "Statistically, the way college starts tends to predict how it will end," VanderStaay said. "So a good start is a big thing."
The Research Behind the Book
VanderStaay's core argument draws on psychology and education research showing that habits are hard to establish under ordinary circumstances but become more malleable during major life transitions. Starting college provides three of those transition factors simultaneously: a new environment, a new role, and a new peer group. That combination, he argues, creates a window during which students can build routines that would be much harder to establish otherwise.
The book addresses some of the darker statistics that surround college success. Nearly half of all people who begin college do not finish, a figure VanderStaay believes gets too little attention in orientation programs and campus culture. "With college, there's really a taboo around talking about failure," he said. "But nearly half of all people who start college don't finish." His approach is to break that taboo directly, talking with students about the reasons people leave and what the research shows about what successful completers actually do differently.
One of the book's central insights concerns the "friendship window" that opens during the first week of school. Colleagues in university residences helped VanderStaay understand that students who arrive on campus are naturally more open to meeting new people than at almost any other point in their lives. The social connections formed in those first days tend to persist and provide the support networks that carry students through difficult quarters. He also noted that optional summer bridge programs for incoming students derive much of their benefit not from academic content but from giving students a second friendship window before the full student body arrives.
What the 12 Questions Cover
The book is structured around 12 questions, each one designed to help students think concretely about the decisions they are making or failing to make in those opening days. The questions range from practical time management choices, such as "What tools will you use to manage your time?" and "How will you think about sleep and rest?" to social and safety-oriented prompts like "How will you stay safe?" and "What story will you tell?"
That last category reflects one of the more striking findings in the book. The first week of college is statistically more dangerous for students than almost any other comparable period: college students as a group are safer than non-college 18-to-24-year-olds overall, but in the first week specifically they are more prone to accidents, alcohol poisoning, and crimes including sexual assault. VanderStaay addresses this directly rather than leaving it for orientation boilerplate, framing safety as one of the 12 genuine decisions students must make consciously.
Each section includes exercises designed to help students, who tend to be focused on the present, connect their immediate choices to their longer-term goals. The book is illustrated by Adrian Urschel-Speir, a 2025 Western graduate in marketing who reached out to VanderStaay directly after learning about the project. "He's exactly the kind of Western student we're proud of, who makes his own way, knocks on people's doors and says, 'This is who I am and what I'd like to do,' " VanderStaay said.
Why This Book, and Why Now
VanderStaay noted that while dozens of books exist about going to college, he could not find one that focused specifically on the opening days and weeks. Most guides cover the full college experience or concentrate on the application process. His book fills a gap he identified during his years in academic administration: the students most at risk of leaving were often making avoidable missteps in the first weeks, before anyone with formal responsibility for their success had a chance to intervene.
"For many of our students, the worst grades they ever get are their first fall quarter," he said. "In high school, people study when something is due. They tend to bring that pattern into college and not change it until they have a failure." The book's goal is to give students the information they need to make that change before the failure happens rather than after.
"The First Days of College: 12 Decisions that Change Everything" is available through Bloomsbury Academic and major book retailers. WWU's fall quarter begins in late September. Parents and students looking for more on Western's first-year programs and campus resources can find current information through the Western Washington University website. For context on other recent work coming out of WWU's faculty, earlier coverage of campus research and community programs offers additional background on the university's public-facing work.
