Crossing the Road: A Guide for the College Bound Chicken

by Julia Ha
(Ukiah, CA, USA)

Four high school students embarked on a journey to explore the world of opportunities and possibilities by taking on the challenge of writing a book together as mere sophomores. Now, as freshmen in college, they are taking time from their busy schedules to take on their new project - promoting their book.

Yvonne Chen, Nancy Chu, Julia Ha and Aryatara Kandahsari are four college freshmen who wrote a book together their sophomore year of high school. The book, titled Crossing the Road: A Guide for the College Bound Chicken is a product of their hard work, dedication, and friendship, and as a how-to guide, they are now presenting this book to other students. Published in December 2005, the students' senior year, it is now available from http://www.bttsonline.org.

The book began as a project in a leadership course the girls took in tenth grade. Their teachers, Dr. and Mrs. Raymond Yeh, presented them with a seemingly insurmountable challenge: as sophomores, to whom college seemed like a distant and mysterious notion, they were to write a book guiding other high school students on learning to make the right decisions and take the best actions to reach their goals - in this case, college.

In this book they use the idea of a chicken crossing the road as a metaphor for the process a student might use to choose to decide whether they want to go to college, which college they want to attend, and how to get into the selected college. Using simple flow charts, pros and cons chart, tradeoff analyses, actions plans, and the like, they guide students through a step-by-step thinking and planning process. They also help the reader investigate him or herself at a deeper level - a level that is not muddled with statistics, pressure, and opinions.

These girls believe that their book can really help students make the right decisions not only for their future but also for their lives. They also believe that their book can not only help students to learn more about themselves and take action in their pathway to college, but also realize that anything is possible, even writing a book in high school. There are a few blatant typos, but the mere idea that students can accomplish seemingly insurmountable goals, will help inspire the youth of today and the future of tomorrow.

Publishing this book was quite a challenge for these girls, especially since they had no experience in the field whatsoever. Guided by their experienced teachers and taking each new challenge as a lesson, these girls were finally able to not only learn about the editing and publication process, but also take a stab at the publicity department by taking on the task of self-publicizing their book.

The girls went to school at Developing Virtue Secondary School, located in Ukiah, CA, and the school is a part of Dharma Realm Buddhist Association's main branch, The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Teacher and mentor Dr. Raymond Yeh is co-author of The Art of Business. This book is published by the Yeh's publishing company, Zero Time Publishing.

Contact Information:
Crossing the Road
(510)289-0042
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