"I wanted to give you my own opinion about The Soloist and how I feel about The Soloist being chosen as the Freshman Common Reading Book. For me, this book was amazing in many ways. I feel like I didn’t only read the story of a remarkable man, but that I even was given the chance to experience some of it. Our field trip to the Disney Hall helped me see the scenes of the story and bring the story to life. Something about the fact that the story was a true one really worked for me, and I can’t even explain how excited and privileged I felt when I was able to actually see Nathaniel Ayers right in front of me, take a picture with him, and see him play at the NAMI walk. This book was a big part of my experiences as a 1st semester freshman at CSUN and I don’t think I would have had it any other way. Other than my own experiences that were tied to the book, I think the book itself had great elements for a freshman reading book, too. I felt that it introduces the reader to do the 3 ideas you want a freshman to explore. It showed a true story example of someone who found their true passion (a phrase talked about over and over throughout our lives but never really felt tangible until reading this book), exposed the reader to the ugly truth of the homelessness problem in Los Angeles but with a story of hope (leading the reader to look into different issues and not be naive), and it also encouraged the reader to be involved and do something about the issue (like participate in walks to reduce the stigma of mental illness)."