Summer Reading Assignment

Your Pioneer Journey has begun!

As you learned during orientation, the “Pioneer Journey” is what makes Sacred Heart University special. The Pioneer Journey names five pillars that support every aspect of the SHU student experience: knowledge, faith, integrity, service and community. The Pioneer Journey experience also includes two key practices that you will continuously engage in throughout your time at SHU: intentional reflection and courageous civil discourse.

The Pioneer Journey will help you make connections across your whole SHU experience. And, as you'll explore in your summer reading reflection assignment, connections are everything!

Preparing for Your Summer Reading

Connections Are Everything Book CoverYour summer reading assignment will be one of your first opportunities as a Pioneer to pause and to engage in intentional reflection. What are you most excited about as you begin your college journey? What worries you most? What values and gifts will you bring to our community? How can connections—to peers, to faculty, to staff—enrich your college experience and help you overcome challenges?

This summer, you will read Part I of Connections are Everything: A College Student’s Guide to Relationship-Rich Education by Peter Felton, Leo M. Lambert, Isis Artze-Vega and Oscar R. Miranda Tapia. These authors are highly regarded for their research on the importance of meaningful relationships and connections with others for student success in college. Though you are only required to read Part I during the summer, we encourage you to read, or at least skim, the rest of the book! We will explore the remaining chapters throughout your First-Year Experience (FYE) course this fall. We also encourage you to share this book with your parents, family members and other important people who are supporting you on your college journey.

How to Get a Copy of Your Summer Reading Book

You are welcome to purchase a paperback copy of Connections are Everything from the SHU Bookstore or access free digital copies from Project MUSE. You can also find the free online version by conducting an online search for “Project MUSE Connections are Everything.”

Your Summer Reading Assignment

Your summer reading reflection assignment will be due during the first week of classes in August. Be sure to carefully follow the directions below as you work on your assignment. Your FYE instructor will provide instructions for uploading your assignment to Blackboard, our learning management system, during your first FYE class.

After reading Part I (pgs. 1-43) of Connections Are Everything, write an approximately 1,000-word original essay that includes responses in your own words based on the four following reflection prompts:

  1. What are you most excited about as you begin your college journey?
  2. How can relationships and connections with peers, faculty and staff contribute to your academic, personal and professional development? How can these connections be a resource to you in your first year and beyond?
  3. Name two to three specific individuals, groups or university resources that could potentially be an initial connection for you upon your arrival to campus. You can utilize the SHU website to find specific organizations or resources. How will you begin to estable connections?
  4. What is a challenge you might face when transitioning to college? What is one concrete action you could take as a positive step to address this challenge?

Your essay must meet the following requirements:

  • Uses a narrative writing style with a first-person point of view, drawing from your own experiences and perspectives, that addresses all four of the reflection prompts
  • Has a logical flow and organization
  • 12-point legible font (e.g., Arial, Calibri), double-spaced, 1” margins
  • Approximately 1,000 words in length (acceptable range: 950-1050 words)
  • Includes correct spelling and grammar
  • Includes at least five in-text citations of Part I of Connections Are Everything, using Modern Language Association (MLA) formatting, including relevant page numbers and a reference list at end of essay (see “How to Cite the Book” section)
  • Submitted as a .docx file format

Your First College Assignment & the Importance of Academic Integrity

As a Sacred Heart University student, you will be held to high expectations of honesty and integrity throughout your academic work. All Sacred Heart University programs and courses adhere fully to the University Policy on Academic Integrity, as stated in the Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs and on the Registrar’s Office's Academic Integrity webpage. Be sure to review them as you begin your college journey, and ask your instructor if you have questions.

Important note: the use of artificial intelligence (AI)/chatbots is not permitted for this summer assignment. This is because we want to learn more about you, your voice, your experiences and how we can help you make the most of your experience at SHU. You are likely have other opportunities to use AI during your time at Sacred Heart.

Know that academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, submitting another’s work as your own, not properly using citations to give credit to source materials, using artificial intelligence when not allowed or other unethical behavior) could result in a grade of F for the assignment or for this course. If you are unsure what is allowed for a particular assignment in any class at SHU, always ask your instructor.

How to Cite the Book & Other Sources

Your summer reading assignment is an excellent opportunity to develop writing citation skills that will be required throughout your college career. For this assignment, you are asked to use Modern Language Association (MLA) formatting. Many high schools use this formatting for papers, so you may already be familiar with it. If you don't have experience with this formatting style, don't worry! Detailed instructions follow, as well as information on SHU support resources.

MLA In-Text Citations

In-text citations are references included within the body of your essay. They identify the source of information by the author(s) last name(s) and publication year and always correspond to a reference listed at the end of your essay. Connections Are Everything is written by four authors, so the authors are abbreviated to “Felten et al.” by MLA standards. For example:

  • To cite an idea or quotation from a single page of Connections Are Everything, include the authors, publication year and page number at the end of the sentence (Felten et al. #).
  • To cite an idea or quotation from a page range of Connections Are Everything, include the authors, publication year and page range at the end of the sentence (Felten et al. #-#).

Reference List

At the end of your essay, include a “Works Cited” section that includes the full citation information for Connections Are Everything. In MLA formatting, a book with more than one author is listed with the first author’s name followed by the Latin phrase “et al.” which means “and others.” The citation would look like this:

Last Name, First Name et al. Title of Book: Book Subtitle if Present. Publisher Name, Publication Date.

If you use sources besides Connections Are Everything, you must also cite them and include them in your reference list. For full MLA guidelines, visit Purdue University Online Writing Lab’s MLA Guide.

How You Will Be Graded

Your summer reading reflection assignment counts as 20% of your FYE course grade and will be graded by your FYE instructor according to the following criteria:

  • Content – Have you thoughtfully addressed each of the four reflection prompts in your own words, drawing from your own experiences and perspectives? (50%)
  • Organization – Does your essay have a logical flow and organization, such as an introduction, exploratory paragraphs and a conclusion? (20%)
  • Spelling & Grammar – Does your essay use well-constructed sentences and correct spelling and grammar? (15%)
  • Citations – Does your essay include at least five citations of the summer reading book using correct MLA formatting, as well as a correctly formatted reference list? (10%)
  • Formatting – Does your essay meet all the outlined formatting requirements, including length, font, spacing, margins and .docx file type? (5%)

Support for Your Writing This Summer

As an incoming SHU student, you are eligible for free tutoring and writing support from the SHU Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL). All students can benefit from tutoring and/or writing support during their college careers! For help with the writing process and/or MLA citations for your FYE summer reading assignment, there are two services available:  

  • Schedule a virtual one-on-one appointment with a CTL Writing Tutor
  • Submit your paper for feedback from a CTL Writing Tutor via our Online Writing Lab (OWL) by August 20, 2025 (typical turnaround is 2-3 days, based on demand)  

You can schedule virtual appointments and submit your paper to OWL via the PASS (Pioneer Academic Support Services) Portal. Questions about tutoring and writing support? Contact the CTL at ctltutoring@sacredheart.edu.

See You Soon!

We look forward to welcoming you back to campus in August! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask your FYE instructor, who will be reaching out to you over the summer. We're excited to see you explore and grow as you continue your Pioneer Journey at SHU—a journey where connections are everything!