Many classic works of literature have survived the test of time and far more can be learned from them then what was taught in your high school English classes. The 10 novels below, written a lifetime ago, are still relevant in the 21st century. In a time of selfies, complaints over how many Instagram likes you have, and valuing our phone screens over personal eye contact, it cannot hurt to go back to basics.

10. "Peter Pan" by J. M. Barrie. A story about the adventures of Peter Pan who lives on the small island of Neverland and never grows up.  Throughout college, we all have those days where we resent growing older.  Unfortunately, college is not Neverland.                 

9. "Around the World in Eighty Days" by Jules Verne.   Phileas Fogg has a $1.6 million wager that he can circumnavigate the world in 80 days. If you feel inspired to embark on a similar journey, check out some OU Study Abroad programs.          

8. "The Odyssey" by Homer. Saying this work is old school, is quite the understatement.  With Bound By Tradition being our OU Homecoming theme this year, it captures the epic’s most central theme of homecoming. Follow Odysseus on his 10-year journey that has an eerie resemblance to surviving college. Odysseus has to face temptation (studying or Wine Wednesday), an evil Cyclops (midterm week) and even has to defeat suitors who are trying to remarry his wife (frat boys).

7. "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller. Set during the middle of WWII, this novel follows Captain John Yossarian, and the other airmen in his division, as they attempt to keep their sanity in order to fulfill service requirements so they can return home. The phrase “Catch-22” now refers to an unsolvable puzzle, or as I like to call it, Winter Finals Week.                 

6. "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Taking place during time of the Puritans in Boston in the 17th century, this novel follows Hester Prynne, a woman who has a child after her husband has been lost at sea for two years.  The people force her to embroider the letter ‘A’ on all her wardrobe for adulterer. Times have changed and sorority girls now wear letters with no shame at all, but sometimes people still harshly judge on the association and not the person.  And like Hester, you don’t know everything about a person’s life just by the clothes that they wear.                 

5. "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Wrapped in beautiful rhetoric, Gatsby’s end goal is a better life for himself, to win back the girl of his desires and throw the biggest parties anyone has ever seen. He is an inspiration for all OU fraternities. I wonder how many Jay Gatsby’s there will be for Halloween this year?                 

4. "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. “It was the best of times (Norman), it was the worst of times (Stillwater).”    
3. "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas. In 1815, Edmund Dantes had the world at his fingertips. He was about to receive a grand raise, become the captain of a ship and get married. However, after being betrayed by his friends he is arrested and sent to prison. While in jail, he meets someone who gives him the greatest gift anyone can receive, an education. Something to keep in mind while OU keeps jacking up the price of tuition.                

2. "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. On a more serious note, sometimes it is hard to swallow when a child can comprehend the racial injustices and horrors of this world, and adults cannot. With today’s events in Syria and Ferguson, Missouri you hope somewhere there is an Atticus Finch who will fight for innocence lost.                 

1. "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. Lizzie Bennet is pretty much the modern independent college woman. She is sassy, does what she wants and refuses to compromise.  It is hard to believe that this novel was published in 1813, when women had virtually no independence. Over 200 years later, her story is still the outline for most romantic comedies. Girl meets boy, girl hates boy, and then they fall in love.