A Year of Separation and Exploration
In this year you begin your college career. For most, college is a further step in independence and self-definition. Particularly in your education and vocation, you make decisions that directly impact on your future. More than ever before, what happens to you now depends on you.
You are the most important person in making a successful adjustment to college. Decisions might take various forms, from developing new kinds of relationships, analyzing your interests and talents to organizing your time and priorities or taking initiative to try a new challenge. Decisions could be big or small and could mean standing up to peer pressure, asking a professor for help, taking the initiative in making friends or joining clubs, etc.
In your first semester it is important for you to settle into your new environment and become acquainted with new expectations. You may find yourself challenged by time demands and the different kind of expectations of college. You may experience separation anxiety if this is the first time you are away from home for an extended period of time. Of course the reality of college life is never quite the same as you pictured it to be.
We hope the second semester is a little easier for you in the area of adjustment: you will know what to expect and will have developed a support network of students and faculty. However, it is usually in the second semester that students worry about their choice of major and their choice of college. You will talk to friends who went to other colleges and wonder about your choice; you wonder if . . . . That’s the problem with choices. But the issue usually is not if you made the right choice but how you deal with your uncertainty. Do you now follow what others say or do or do you think for yourself, with input from others?
Writing your story:
Both learning stories and writing your own story require much initiative, but writing your own story is something for which you areÑfrom beginning to endÑultimately responsible. Make no mistake, other people will write your story for you if you let them, and many people willingly let their story be written for them. It requires, after all, much less effort simply to meet the expectations of others than to create suitable expectations for oneself.
Writing your own story, then, requires you to separate from the story that was given to you by others. The intention of this separation is not to ask you to forget and deny the story that others expected you to claim. Instead, it asks you to gain enough distance on those scripts that others have written for you and to reflect on what is important to you and why. It asks you to gain enough distance on those stories that belong to other people so that you might discover the range of stories available to you. It asks you to let yourself be surprised.
This does not mean that, having separated yourself from the story that others have provided you, you will necessarily leave your past behind. On the contrary, you may decide to claim as your own that story that had been yours before you undertook the reflective separation. On the other hand, you may write a story that is yours alone, that is something entirely original. Regardless, now you will have a more passionate ownership of your story.
M.C. Richards, in the 1966 book entitle The Crossing Point, describes this passion as a fire. He writes:
If we want to range into new territory, we have to alter our relationship to “home,” we have to be able to question, and not invent answers, but listen for answers, listen like Columbus on the deep sea for the new way. To be willing to be at sea. To be able to be seasick. You have to believe in the waves and the currents and the shores, you have to believe in law. Artists do not make the laws of revelation, they acknowledge them and work in league with them. . . .
. . . .We cannot be fulfilled as vessels of life without the fire. We know this as wisdom, but we have to find our way into it as living experience. We have to discover what fire is—what heat is; if we want to change, we have to undertake it. We have to undergo the unknown. We cannot pull back and say No, I can’t, I’m afraid. Of course we are afraid…
Your Career Development Program is an important component your department has initiated to assist you in writing your own story. The reports you write over the next years will help you gain this reflective distance on the stories of your past. As you write your reports, think about what it means to stand at a crossroads where you can choose to own your journey, your story, or you can choose to let someone else own it.
Your First Year in College:
Two counselors, Herant Katchadourian and John Boli, from their surveys of many freshmen, describe freshman year as “a time of orientation, marked by excitement, experimentation, exhilaration, and anxiety.” Note that they make no mention of calm, ease, or comfort. These are not the markers of separation, and therefore they will have little place in freshman year. These markers come later and accompany your ownership of chosen stories. For now, expect to feel betwixt and between. Though the uncertainty of the first year at college is a little like riding a roller coaster, enjoy the moment anyway since it heralds an important beginning. Katchadourian and Boli continue with their observations:
"The most significant aspect of the freshman year is the challenge of adjusting to a new academic environment. The initial reaction on entering college is one of euphoria [a sense of happiness or well-being]. But this is replaced by a sense of being overwhelmed.
“The pull of social relationships, extracurricular activities, and the prospect of having a good time make enormous demands. The need to work to earn money adds an extra burden. Time becomes a scarce commodity, and its effective management a vital skill. Homesickness for some and parental intrusiveness for others cause problems. The exposure at close range to people of different ethnic and social backgrounds may have disconcerting effects.”
Insecurities: “Insecurity and a drop in confidence are common reactions to the onslaught of these new experiences. As the year progresses, however, most students learn to cope and feel less anxious about keeping their heads above water as they learn the ins and outs of college life.”
Displacement: “Some of the reactions shown by freshmen are obviously a function of suddenly being on their own in a place where the opportunities for fun seem boundless. . . . Emancipation from home is a mixed blessing. Some freshmen get desperately homesick.”
Distance: “No less significant are the consequences of freshmen discovering each other. . . . Freshmen are very preoccupied with dorm life and interpersonal relationships more generally. There is a great deal of easy camaraderie among freshmen, but developing more intimate relationships is not easy.”
Effort: “Far from neglecting their classes, freshmen generally tackle them with great determination, and for good reason—the amount of work covered is much greater than they have been used to. The realization that how well you manage your time and how effectively you study is as important as how hard you study is one of the major discoveries of freshman year. Another important task is adjusting one’s expectations and recognizing one’s limitations.”
Uncertainty: “Only about 15 percent of freshmen have concrete career plans. At best, about the same proportion have clear educational objectives. While many come to college being less than certain as to what they want, others lose their certainty after they get there.”
“Freshmen describe their course work as demanding and say they need help with reading, writing, and mathematical skills.
“The freshman year is described in terms of adjustment problems, exploration, meeting new people, and learning about oneself. The emotional tone of the year is captured in such words as hectic and crazy.” What do you think? Please give your thoughts to your adviser and in your Career Development Reports.
Your Career Development Report:
Your Career Development Report is due on certain days each semester. Please upload your report to WebCT.
The report has four parts:
1. your goals (due beginning of October)
2. your ownership of your hopes and goals (due beginning of December)
3. your accomplishments (due first Friday after spring break)
4. your overall development this year (due in April)
Paper 1. YOUR GOALS: -- due first Friday of October. Call it: yourlastname103OctPaper.doc. Submit through WebCT.
A. Your first year is a time in which you should be evaluating your strengths, weaknesses, interests, and talents.
In at least two typed pages describe your
• strengths
• weaknesses
• interests
• talents
B. As you enter college, describe your hopes and goals in another page or two. Think about some of the concepts discussed in previous pages and at our career development meeting, such as
Write all this up and submit the paper through WebCT Assignments to your adviser. yourlastname103OctPaper.doc
Paper 2. Your ownership of your hopes and goals (due Monday after Thanksgiving. Call it: yourlastname103NovPaper.doc) Submit through WebCT.
A.) The most important question: In two pages explain what is the source of the hopes and goals you identified in Part I? To what degree are they your own? To what degree are these goals products of your parents, your friends, your high school, the shows and advertisements you watch on TV? How explicitly and thoroughly have you thought about your aspirations?
Alternative ways to approach this same question:
Who is your hero in literature or popular culture? Explain what makes this person heroic.
Who or what do you consider to be the penultimate voice of authority? Why? What has been the message of that voice of authority?
What’s the benefit of having a voice of authority? What’s the problem with having a voice of authority?
Is it even possible to imagine another set of goals if a voice of authority does not present them as a viable option?
Paper 3. YOUR EXPLORATION: --due Friday after Spring Break. Call it: yourlastname103MarchPaper.doc Submit through WebCT.
A.) On the first page, write about the "Most Important Questions":
How have you explored possible goals for your life?
What new possibilities and ideas have you been intrigued by in your courses this year?
What has scared you the most this year?
What have you felt the most comfortable doing this year?
How do you use all this information to claim ownership of your goals?
B.) In another page or two, discuss what career exploration you have done so far this year. Formal and informal opportunities for career exploration are available for first-year students. Among the formal opportunities are courses, especially Introduction to Mass Communication, and Career Development speakers. Explain points you have taken away from speakers or courses that have helped you understand potential careers in English or ECom.
C.) Please do an Information-Gathering Interview and write what you learned from this interview about the other person and especially about yourself. Do not write a report of the interview or a Q. & A. format. Write about what you took away from the interview. How to do one is explained on the hyperlink below.
An Information-gathering Interview is an interview you conduct with a professional in a field you are interested in or with a senior in your major.Ê If with a senior, inquire about their experience over their four years. You will be doing at least one Information-gathering Interview each year in college. If you do it with a professional in a field you are interested in, here are some suggestions: How to do an Information-Gathering Interview is explained on the next page.
D.) At the Com 103 group meeting, we went over how to improve your resume. Please copy and paste your improved resume as the final page of this report and upload the file to WebCT (yourlastname103paper3.doc)
Paper 4. YOUR OVERALL DEVELOPMENT THIS YEAR:--due in April. Call it: yourlastname103AprilPaper.doc Submit through WebCT.
Question:
Read the first two areas of development: developing competence and managing emotions.
With regard to the first area, developing competence, he talks about three aspects—intellectual competence, physical and manual skills, and interpersonal competence. Which of these competencies do you consider your strongest? How might this analysis help you clarify your career goals?
In the second area, managing emotions, Chickering concludes by saying that “Students must learn to balance self-assertive tendencies, which involve some form of aggressiveness or defensiveness, with participatory tendencies, which involve transcending the boundaries of the individual self, identifying or bonding with another, or feeling part of a larger whole.” Analyze where you stand with regard to these two tendencies, if you believe you already have a good balance, or if you think you need to develop in one or the other direction.
V. OPTIONAL QUESTION: FEEDBACK
Having experienced the major this year, what feedback can you give to the department? What recommendations do you have? Thanks for your input.
How to Do an Information-gathering Interview:
I. How to arrange one:
-you may choose an alumnus of the college, or a professional in a career that interests you. You may get names from your adviser, a professor, the Career Counseling office, or from speakers in your classes. You may also get contacts through your family and friends.
-Most people are eager to help students discover what they wish to do after college, although some might have trouble finding time. Patience and politeness helps.
-Make contact with the individual and tell them that you are researching what you might do after college and want to know more about their career. Ask them if you might make an appointment and speak with them for 15 or 20 minutes. It is far better to do the interview in person than over the phone.
II. Suggested Questions:
General Description
1. What is your job title? Are there other titles that a person in your occupation might hold?
2. What is the nature of your work?
3. What are your duties during the usual day? Are these typical of most days?
4. What are the toughest problems you must deal with?
5. Are there advantages you can see in your occupation? How about the disadvantages?
Preparation
1. What background (educational degree, credentials, licenses, etc.) is required for this occupation?
2. What kinds of prior experience are absolutely necessary?
3. Is there more than one way to prepare for this occupation?
4. How did you prepare yourself for this work?
Opportunities
1. Are there many new job openings in this field or will there be in the future?
2. Are there opportunities for promotion within your occupation? Would you have to change occupations in order to advance in your career?
3. If you were to hire someone to work with you today, what factors would be most significant in your hiring decision?
4. Who else do you know who is doing interesting things in your field (others from whom I might seek advice)?
III. Other Tips:
-You must talk to the rank and file who are doing the kind of work you are interested in and not limit your search to potential employers.
-You will come off better if you first study books, magazines, etc., concerning the industry you are interested in.
-Don't ask questions you could have easily found out the answers to by reading.
-Speak first to those in lesser authority in a company.
-Choose smaller and less-known organizations.
-In your report, write what you learned from this interview about the other person and especially about yourself. We don't want an objective report so much as your thoughts about your career exploration.