College can often feel like a never-ending mad dash. Once one finish line is crossed, another appears on the horizon.
When working around the clock to secure a strong GPA, leadership positions in extracurriculars, and impressive internships, it is easy to fall into a college existence defined solely by achievement.
In her newly released book, Discover What Matters: Finding Meaning, Hope, and Love in a Success-Driven College Culture, Elizabeth McColloch, BC ’21, strives to guide college students through creating a fulfilling college experience.
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, McColloch said she was exposed to a culture that valued academic and professional success above all else from an early age.
“I think in high school, we saw the really dark side of the pressure on students, even in terms of mental health,” McColloch said.
When it came time to apply to college, McColloch hoped to find a school that emphasized education and service to others over personal ambition and achievement.
“I think part of the reason why I wanted to go to BC was that it turned away from this obsession with only caring about your own success,” McColloch said. “I love that BC really wanted to format students into people who would use their gifts to serve others and to care for others.”
Despite being enrolled in the Carroll School of Management with a concentration in operations management, McColloch said she sought classes at BC that allowed her to explore interests outside of the business sector.
“I would definitely describe my BC education … as super multidisciplinary,” McColloch said. “I even took two classes in the grad School of Social Work and did research with one of their instructors.”
As her sophomore year rolled around, McColloch became a resident assistant in a freshman dorm on campus and quickly discovered that she had a knack for offering support and guidance to others.
She began keeping a running document of the advice she offered to residents and the lessons she took away from conversations with them.
“I just found myself just in so many conversations where they would bring up classes and their stress levels, and I like 100 percent understood that because I was the same,” McColloch said. “But I also just wanted to continue to encourage them … And I think every time I had a really special experience, I wanted to share that with them.”
But when COVID-19 hit, McColloch found herself packing up her dorm and logging on to Zoom. Having finished all of her required courses, she decided to take her first and only writing class of college: a non-fiction creative writing class.
In high school, McColloch was a passionate writer and an editor on her school newspaper, she said, but it was not until her senior year of college that she was able to rediscover her appreciation for writing.
“I just fell back in love with writing,” McColloch said. “Specifically, I loved being able to go back and think about memories from my past, and write them in really beautiful ways.”
Throughout her senior year and after graduating, McColloch said she struggled tremendously with her physical and mental health. During a time for which she had long envisioned herself traveling and searching for jobs, McColloch was instead at home trying to restore her wellbeing.
“I was just focused on trying to get through the day,” McColloch said. “I couldn’t even look for jobs. So over those two years after college, I was just like, ‘Well, something I can do right now is write.’ And so I just started writing.”
Having recorded her ideas and conversations in journals and Google Docs throughout college, McColloch began thinking about writing a book that could share the lessons she learned to help other students have a meaningful college experience.
After telling her mom, Diana McColloch, about her idea to write a book, Diana became a crucial supporter and collaborator during the writing process. Although Diana was nervous about the overwhelming nature of writing and publishing a book, she said she never doubted whether or not her daughter would be able to pull it off.
“I didn’t have any doubts about her ability,” Diana said. “I know if she undertook it, she was going to succeed. But it was like, wow, that’s a big goal.”
McColloch said her mother was a crucial supporter during the writing process, helping her work through new ideas and talk through segments that weren’t quite right.
“I would say the biggest thing was just listening and being that soundboard where she would share her ideas and our thoughts,” Diana said. “Sometimes if she got stuck on how to say certain things or she wasn’t happy with a sentence as time went on … she would bring it to me and we talked about it.”
McColloch also had the support of a writing group that she’s now been a part of for over two years. After meeting in a writing class, she and three other female writers from across the country started meeting biweekly to encourage each other, share ideas, and make suggestions.
One woman in her group, Erin Smith—a writer, podcaster, and photographer—served as a sounding board for McColloch’s ideas and edited segments of the book.
As a mother of five and with a child starting entering college this year, Smith said McColloch’s book holds a special significance to her.
“I found it very encouraging that the message [is] helping them to see that it’s not just this success-driven purpose, but instead to have a fullness to your life and the opportunity to slow down and to decide what matters—including relationships with people and things more than just success in your field or a paycheck,” Smith said. “I just love that message.”
After over a year of drafting and a lengthy editing process, McColloch then took on the challenge of self-publication, navigating the technicalities of registering the book in the Library of Congress and selling it on Amazon.
“I got to use my business degree to [figure] out marketing and what to price the book at, and I just loved that side of it, but it was so different from the writing process,” McColloch said.
On March 23, 2024, McColloch published Discover What Matters after working on it for over two years. Although she is shifting from being self-employed to finding a more stable job in the business world, McColloch said she still has a long list of ideas for writing projects to tackle in the future.
“I love the idea that the book isn’t the end, it’s almost the beginning,” McColloch said. “And it’s kind of like something that can get me in the door to really do what I want to do, which is to encourage other students and encourage people to live meaningful lives.”
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