1 Kelsey Heiple April 8, 2013 Contemporary College Student Dr. Fayth ar!

s Student Observation Activity Sin"e #eginning my "areer in 200$, % ha&e 'or!ed 'ith "ollege students on a daily #asis. %n Admissions, ho'e&er, % am usually only o#ser&ing the #eginning o( their de&elopmental )ourney. *&ery no' and then, % ha&e a student 'ho 'ill "ome #a"! to see me and (ollo' up as they ma!e progress. Ho'e&er, the ma)ority o( students % en"ounter during the Admissions pro"ess % only see again 'hen they are 'al!ing a"ross stage at graduation. +e"ause o( this, % 'as e,"ited a#out the opportunity to o#ser&e their daily li&es and see ho' many o( them 'ere progressing not only through their "lasses #ut also de&eloping as indi&iduals. For this assignment, % "hose a lo"ation that 'ould allo' me to o#ser&e students engaging in all di((erent types o( #eha&iors. %n most "olleges, the Student Center is a pla"e 'here students "an study, eat, or e&en )ust hang out 'ith their (riends. For this reason, % (elt it 'as the most appropriate pla"e to o#ser&e students in 'hat many 'ould "onsider their natural ha#itat. % arri&ed in the Student Center o( the -arietta Campus o( Chattahoo"hee .e"hni"al College, 'here % am employed, at around 11/30am as % (igured it 'ould #e the #usiest time 'ith students "hanging "lasses and eating lun"h. % 'as a #it ta!en a#a"!, at (irst, #y ho' 0uiet it 'as as the thirty1or1so students 'ho o""upied the Student Center all seemed to #e studying intently. %t 'as not long, ho'e&er, #e(ore their (riends started to arri&e and it #e"ame noisy rather 0ui"!ly. %t seemed that most o( the students 'ho had pre&iously #een studying intently 'ere 'aiting on (riends to either eat lun"h or study together. 2hat originally appeared to #e a room (ull o(

2 indi&iduals turned into a Student Center (ull o( groups o( (riends doing &arious things. 2hat 'as e&ident, ho'e&er, is ho' the di((erent groups ea"h 'ere made up o( students 'ith similar "hara"teristi"s 'hether it 'as gender, ra"e, ethni"ity, or se,ual orientation. .his #eing the "ase, % "ould not help #ut noti"e ho' the mem#ers o( ea"h group intera"ted 'ith ea"h other and ho' ea"h o( them (it into the identity de&elopment theories o( student de&elopment. 3ne o( the groups sitting "losest to me 'as "omprised o( Cau"asian, t'enty1 or thirty1 something (emales 'ho seemed to #e studying (or a s"ien"e "lass. 2hile the ma)ority o( their time 'as, in (a"t, spent studying, e&ery no' and then they 'ould ha&e a #rie( dis"ussion a#out li(e outside o( s"hool. 3ne o( the 'omen, 'ho seemed to #e one o( the youngest in the group, "omplained a#out ho' di((i"ult it had #een (inding time to study 'hile #eing a single parent to her t'o1year1old daughter. Another o( the younger 'omen mentioned that she "ould not imagine 'hat her (riend and "lassmate 'as going through and ne&er 'anted to e,perien"e li(e as a single parent. .'o o( the older 'omen e,pressed their o'n struggles as parents4 ho'e&er, only one o( the 'omen e,pressed sympathy as she, too, 'as a single parent. .he dynami" o( this group is the per(e"t e,ample o( 5uthellen 6osselson7s theory o( identity de&elopment among 'omen. From 'hat % "ould gather, o( 6ames -ar"ia7s (our identity groups used in 6osselson7s theory, the a(orementioned 'omen (ell into three o( (our groups. .he younger 'oman 'ho "omplained a#out her struggles as a single mother is li!ely representati&e o( the moratorium8sear"her identity group. % ha&e to imagine that, as a single parent, she has pro#a#ly e,perien"ed 'hat she deems a "risis as she does not ha&e a permanent (ather (igure (or her "hild. Additionally, the (a"t that she is "omplaining a#out her struggles leads me to #elie&e that she has yet to (ind her identity as a single parent. .he other young 'oman 'ho 'as una#le to relate to

3 her (riend7s struggles is li!ely a representati&e o( the (ore"losure8gate!eeper identity group as it 'as "lear that she had not e,perien"ed the same "rises as the other 'omen yet she 'as "ommitted to an identity that does not in&ol&e single parenting. 9astly, the older 'oman 'ho 'as a#le to sympathi:e 'ith the young single mother is li!ely a representati&e o( the identity a"hie&ers8pathma!ers identity group as she, too, e,perien"ed the "risis o( #eing a single parent yet she 'as a#le to o&er"ome and has "ommitted to a su""ess(ul identity as a single parent. Another o( the groups in the Student Center 'as "omprised o( 'hat appeared to #e gay and les#ian "ouples. Although % 'as hesitant to la#el them as su"h initially, it 'as apparent that they 'ere paired o(( into same1se, "ouples. 2hile most o( the group seemed to #e rather outspo!en and pride(ul, one e&en donning a ;gay pride< t1shirt, there 'ere others in the group 'ho seemed to #e more timid. %n o#ser&ing them, % 'as a#le to ma!e a "orrelation to Cass7s psy"hoso"ial model o( se,ual identity (ormation. +ased on Cass7s model, my o#ser&ations led me to #elie&e that the mem#ers o( this parti"ular group 'ere representati&e o( Stage = and Stage >, %dentity A""eptan"e and %dentity ride, respe"ti&ely. .he more timid mem#ers o( the group seemed to #e representati&e o( Stage =, %dentity A""eptan"e, in Cass7s model as they had "learly a""epted their identity as gay or les#ian #y (reely asso"iating 'ith those o( the same identity. Ho'e&er, it 'as easy to di((erentiate those mem#ers (rom the others, 'ho seemed to #e representati&e o( Stage >, %dentity ride, #e"ause the more outspo!en mem#ers o( the group 'ere openly a((e"tionate 'ith their partners. Additionally, the mem#er 'ho had ;gay pride< em#la:oned on their t1shirt represented the primary "on"ept o( Stage >, ;gay pride.< 2hat % (ound interesting, ho'e&er, 'as that none o( the group mem#ers seemed to ha&e de&eloped to Stage $, %dentity Synethesis, 'hi"h is 'here they ha&e de&eloped trust 'ith the heterose,ual population and (ind "om(ort in the "ongruen"e

= #et'een the t'o 'orlds. %n (a"t, it 'as e&ident that none had rea"hed this stage as they s"o((ed at an athlete 'ho tried to as! 0uestions a#out a home'or! assignment. % (ound my o#ser&ations to #e 0uite interesting and telling o( the di((erent le&els o( de&elopment that e,ist in the student population. .o 'itness it (irst hand 'hile applying the di((erent student de&elopment theories ga&e me a #etter understanding o( the theories themsel&es and a greater appre"iation (or the students as they em#ar! on their o'n de&elopmental )ourney. .he Student Center is surely a great lo"ation to 'itness students de&eloping not only intelle"tually #ut also so"ially. Seeing the di((erent le&els o( de&elopment 'as espe"ially interesting to 'itness and % "an only imagine ho' mu"h more these indi&iduals 'ill de&elop in the years to "ome.