[268] Playing College Game To Win Is Objective of Young Professor's Strategic Talks At MTSU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 18, 2011
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

PLAYING COLLEGE GAME TO WIN IS OBJECTIVE OF YOUNG
PROFESSOR’S STRATEGIC TALKS AT MTSU
High School Students, College Students, Parents, Nontraditional
Students--All Can Benefit from Dr. Ryan Otter’s Advice and Experience

(MURFREESBORO) – “How to Win at the Game of College,” a three-part seminar series to equip students and parents with the tools and strategies to ensure college success, will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, in the State Farm Lecture Hall (Room S102) of the Business and Aerospace Building (BAS) at Middle Tennessee State University.
A dynamic, interactive and audio-visual presentation by Dr. Ryan Otter, assistant professor of biology at MTSU, and based on his book How to Win at the Game of College: Practical Advice from a College Professor, the opening installment of the series is titled “The Benefits of the ‘Be Weird’ Strategy.” It will focus on how college is different from high school and how being “weird” will lead to success.
“In today’s global economy, higher education has never been more important or competitive,” says Otter. “Success depends on using unique tools and strategies, as well as having a basic understanding of how to interact with key professionals on campus.”
Drawing on his own experience as an aimless youth who very nearly whiled away his college career, Otter directs this enlightening guide to finding one’s path in life without falling prey to the stresses and misconceptions that prompt many fledgling collegians to give up. His method for success helped him earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in zoology from Michigan State University and a doctorate in environmental toxicology from Clemson University.
The 31-year-old Otter is still young enough to remember his own struggles and now grapples with his students’ indecision and lack of direction.

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“Three million new freshmen enroll in college every year, and most have no idea about the game they are about to start playing,” says Otter. “A failure to understand that the game of college is different from the game of high school is the cause of most issues faced by incoming freshmen and is a major reason why one-half of all students who start college never finish.”
In addition to the January seminar, Otter will present “Exploit the Expected and Unexpected Tools” at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 23, and “Capitalize on the Campus Pros” at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23, both in BAS S102. Question-and-answer sessions will follow each 45-minute seminar. All three events are free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Otter at 615-898-2063 or rrotter@mtsu.edu or Gina Logue of the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu, or go to www.thecollegegameproject.org.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a jpeg of Dr. Ryan Otter and the front page of How to Win at the Game of College, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.


Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. MTSU recently unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.