Derek Melleby started college as a Christian, and he ended it that way.

It wasn't always easy.

"I experienced many challenges to my faith, both inside and outside the classroom," he said. "I can remember times when my faith was ridiculed by both professors and peers."

Now Melleby, who lives in Mount Joy, helps young people make the transition from high school to college and has written a book aimed at getting them to think it through.

"Make College Count: A Faithful Guide to Life & Learning" (Baker Books, $12.99) is Melleby's second book. Consider it a prequel. His first, "The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness," cowritten with Donald Opitz, discusses integrating faith and learning.

" 'Make College Count' prepares students for college," he said. " 'The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness' helps students to thrive in college."

Melleby's authorial focus flows from his job as director of the College Transition Initiative, which began in 2005 as a ministry of the Elizabethtown-based Center for Parent-Youth Understanding and the Coalition for Christian Outreach.

He said CPYU President Walt Mueller had found that "too many students and parents were not adequately equipped for the crucial transition from high school to college."

"Many students simply go through the motions and go to college because it's the assumed next step after high school," Melleby said. "Very few students take time to think more deeply about this important time in their lives and how to make the most of the college years."

"Make College Count" aims to stimulate deeper thinking through tough questions. Each chapter poses a question: What kind of person do you want to become? Why are you going to college? What do you believe? Who are you?

From ages 18 to 25, "decisions are made ... that give shape to the rest of life. Even if students don't realize it, during this time students are making commitments about the kind of person they will be and the central convictions that will give purpose and direction to their lives."

But many students don't choose their path so much as they stumble into one.

"A recent study revealed that many students who walked away from the faith during college didn't really make a conscious decision to do so," Melleby said. "They just slowly drifted away and stopped going to church."

College tends to be toxic to Christian faith, but Melleby said the challenges come less from professors with agnostic or atheistic views and more from friends with different values.

"College has become less about wrestling with 'big ideas' and more about getting grades to get a credential. New friends and lifestyles probably do have a greater influence. The pressure can be intense. ... Many students can't imagine a college experience that doesn't include risky behavior such as binge drinking and hooking up. A culture has been created that assumes 'this is what college is like.' But it doesn't have to be."

"Make College Count" suggests that Christian students should set their college experience in the context of finding their place in God's big story.

"Here's one angle: It starts with your definition of success," Melleby said. "You will know that you are finding your place in God's story when you measure success in terms of helping others, becoming wise, being a good neighbor. If you think of success in terms of building a portfolio, or getting ahead for personal gain, or finding security in money, a different story is probably shaping you.

"When it comes to education, I think the biblical narrative defines success this way: we learn in order to become wise so that we can be of better service to our communities."

Melleby sees the challenges of his college years now "as a great gift. I'm glad I had to the opportunity to reflect more deeply on the foundations of my faith."

But while he and his wife, Heidi, have two sons, Jacob and Nathan, Melleby doesn't automatically assume his children will go to college.

"My hope and prayer is to cast a vision for living a life of service, to God and neighbor. Maybe a college degree would be part of fulfilling that vision, but it doesn't have to be.

"If college does end up being part of their life story, well, I guess I'll just hand them a copy of the book!"