'You're On Your Own (but I'm here if you need me)'

by Gayla Marty

From M, fall 2003

Depending on the time of year, Marjorie Savage gets 50 to 300 calls and e-mail messages like this each week, from the perplexed to the urgent. Gently but firmly, she asks questions, guides parents to the appropriate offices, and brainstorms to help them solve problems. As director of the Parent Program on the Twin Cities campus, she serves as a liaison between the University and the parents of 28,000 undergraduates. Her work has put the University at the forefront of college-parent communications.

But you no longer have to be the parent of a U of M student to hear from Marj Savage. Her confident tone and understated humor are the foundations of her new book, You're On Your Own (but I'm here if you need me): Mentoring Your Child During the College Years. From the emotional rollercoaster of the pre-freshman-year summer all the way through the anxiety of senior spring, Savage helps parents learn to mentor their college-aged children with extremely practical advice.

"My daughter's roommate controls all the space in their room. My daughter can't even get into her closet because a bike is in the way. She is miserable. Is there anything I can do about this?"

In chapters with titles like "How Can One Book Be Worth $92?" and "You Pierced What?" Savage guides parents through the intricate and changing life of a modern-day college student. Each chapter has tips for students, and a succinct and descriptive "four-year college calendar" at the end of the book tells parents what challenges to expect as their child moves through his or her college years.

You're On Your Own (but I'm here if you need me): Mentoring Your Child During the College Years is available at your local bookstore or the University of Minnesota Bookstores. Simon & Schuster/Fireside; ISBN#0-7432-2912-6; $13 paperback.