Objectives
Graduate school is fraught with obstacles that prevent many from finishing their degree. Many graduate students suffer through isolation, sometimes feeling like an imposter (Gardner, 2013). Isolation has been a major factor in mental health issues for graduate students (Grady, Touche, Oslawski-Lopez, Powers, & Simacek, 2014). Graduate school is a goal that many aspire to, but completion rates are much lower than institutions would like; only 5% of students complete their degree in 3 years and 57% in 10 years (Sowell, 2008). Therefore, this autoethnography seeks to illuminate the researcher’s path to a terminal degree, while comparing experiences of two colleagues. Through analysis of our conversation, we intend to demonstrate
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Additionally, students who were more integrated with communities are more likely to persevere (Seidman, 2012). Additionally, a sense of belonging can help strengthen interest levels and improve persistence, even in the face of opposition (Rattan, Savani, Chugh, & Dweck, 2015). However, graduate students are often left to their own devices for integration, identification and intervention. Graduate students must navigate their terminal degree without a clear guide. Although each student has an advisor, schedules, workloads, and other issues often prevent students from meeting on a regular basis. While issues concerning persistence are often discussed, autoethnographic studies can illuminate the struggle for struggling graduate students via a firsthand account (Ellis, Adams, & Bochner, 2011). The authors’ interactions and issues of persistence have been dealt with at length in conversations. Experiences and conclusions are detailed …show more content…
We often found ourselves wondering if we had missed a deadline or forgot to complete a specific task. In my case, it began as soon as I had been accepted to the program. After receiving my letter, I began to inquire about assistantships and found out that applications were due the following day. I should have sent the assistantship application with my application for admission, but I had to quickly complete my application. It was a very confusing hurdle that caused a fair amount of stress for my wife and I. David, Tia, and I have often discussed these challenges of ignorance, which has helped us each deal with stress and anxiety as it has for previous students (Schlemper, 2011). Graduate work can be rather stressful; having numerous coping strategies can help students as they progress (Flett, Endler, & Besser,
The film, The Graduate, tells a story about a new college graduate and his experience upon returning home to expectations of his peers and a fear of his own future. Produced in the 1960’s, The Graduate, depicts topics such as isolationism and alienation through the protagonist, Benjamin Braddock. The main theme of the movie is the idea of Benjamin’s isolation being caused by the pressure from expectations that the older generations lay upon him; he does not know what he wants to do with his future, yet his father and peers continues to hound him and question him on his future plans. A common fear for most college students and newly college graduates, many college students are unsure of where their lives will lead them and without a certain answer, can be nerve racking. Benjamin’s father and peers make this idea apparent to Ben when they often ask him “What are you gonna do now?”. Our protagonist does not seem to have a positive answer for them almost every time. Mr. Braddock also parades Benjamin to his friends by buying him extravagant gifts
Isolation is a critical theme in the film The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols. The film centers around twenty-one year old Benjamin Braddock who has just graduated from college. Ben is facing adulthood and realizes that he doesn’t fit in with his generation nor does he fit in with his parents generation. He feels so lost that he resorts to having an affair with the wife of his father’s business partner, Mrs. Robinson. Whether it’s moving himself to a separate room or hiding at the bottom of the pool, Ben isolates himself because it’s his way of coping with his inability to connect with those around him and his uncertainty of the future. The director and cinematographer use stylistic techniques such as various camera shots, a unique soundtrack
It is expected that within a span of four years drastic changes can occur to any person. An example of such case is our experience throughout four years of high school or college; it is a time in which each obstacle that we surpass will become an experience that builds character. We have all left our childhood behind, but we have yet to taste the full essence of adulthood. Within these years of being cast astray to find our own paths, it is common for us students to experience regular episodes of anxiety, stress, and crippling self-doubt.
The opening scene introduces Greg Gaines, the film’s depressed protagonist, which the audience can see through the use of restricted narration. Greg is an introverted high school senior who floats through life by trying to stay unnoticed. He does not belong only to one group, but to all of the groups and none of them at the same time. His survival plan is to be low-key good terms with every separate group in his high school in order to avoid any conflict. We also see Earl, with whom Greg shoots short, animated parody films. These two short movie clips are very central to the narrative, being the clips motifs they tell the audience that they should expect the movies to be a significant symbol in the rest of the film. Later Greg is told by his parents that his old childhood friend, Rachel, is diagnosed with leukemia.
Adult students' participation and persistence in educational activities ranging from adult literacy to doctoral programs is a complex phenomenon involving an array of factors. Adults are often affected by situational factors beyond their control—job, health problems, financial problems, legal problems, personal or family problems (Belzer 1998). Likewise, dispositional factors such as expectations, self-esteem, level of family support, and past educational experience, can be barriers to participation (Hubble 2000). Institutional factors such as red tape, program fees, scheduling, and procedures can either help or hinder participation (Quigley 1998). In fact, adult students who drop out are often actually "stopping out"—that is, interrupting their studies but planning to return (Frank and Gaye 1997)—or attending other institutions (Hoffman and Elias 1999).
Many people often assume that isolation is an idea of the past, but it is still alive and well today. As described in the Anglo-Saxon poem, “The Seafarer,” he was an isolationist, and much like in “The Glass Castle Memoir,” by Jeannette Walls and also in “Man homeless by choice has ‘a great life,” by Edythe Jensen, both of these modern day authors describe their main characters with qualities of an isolationists. While it may not appeal to many, there are a few people that choose to step away from society and go in their own direction. In “The Seafarer” it reads, “And yet my heart wanders away,/My soul roams with the sea…”(58-59). The Seafarer has separated himself from the society around him, making himself essentially homeless, since his
Nathaniel Hawthorne was a prolific writer, weaving some of the best-known stories in American literature. While Hawthorne’s works tend to focus around the Puritan themes of sin, he was usually critical of Puritan ideals. Some of Hawthorne’s works (“Young Goodman Brown”, “The Minister’s Black Veil”, and The Scarlet Letter) have characters living life outside of their Puritan communities and can be classified as outsider narratives. Young Goodman Brown, Reverend Hooper, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Hester Prynne are all outsiders in their communities, but what makes the characters unique is that they chose to be outsiders.
In Paul Toughmay’s “Who Gets to Graduate,” he follows a young first year college student, Vanessa Brewer, explaining her doubts, fears, and emotions while starting her college journey. As a student, at the University of Texas Brewer feels small and as if she doesn’t belong. Seeking advice from her family she calls her mom but after their conversation Brewer feels even more discouraged. Similar to Brewer I have had extreme emotions, doubts, and fears my freshman year in college.
4 Giancola, J.K., Grawitch, M.J., and Borchert, D. (2009). Dealing with the stress of college: A
Counseling Center for Human Development. Coping with Stress in College. U of South Florida. 3 Dec. 2000. http://usfweb.usf.edu/counsel/self-hlp/stress.htm
College students, especially freshmen, experiencing stress is normal, but it a concern that should not be taken lightly. It is easy for situations to spiral out of control, or for freshmen to feel like they cannot complete the next four years if things stay the same. It is important for students to keep in my mind that it is never too late to try one of these coping skills, and it is never too late to ask for
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson. Berger, J. B., & Milem, J. F. (1999). The role of student involvement and perceptions of integration in a casual model of student persistence. Research in Higher Education, 40, 641-664. Light, J. R. (2001).
Not everyone feels loves. Some of feel it and some people don’t. That’s the difference between Intimacy vs Isolation and I identify with this stage of Erikson. As I finally got out of the self-confusion I managed to discover myself and with this self-discovery I get to identify with intimacy in this stage. Intimacy vs Isolation is a very big difference that can cause unfortunate outcomes with people and their minds. For that it is important to have be a good person and accept yourself before anything in other to share your life with another person. In this stage we begin to share our moments with another person and we learn how to have good relationships.
You often think that everything boils down to deadlines. If only the tick of the clock is much slower and if deadlines don’t exist, everything would be much easier. Sometimes you blame your failures to somebody or to a circumstance where in fact, the real problem is just the way you perceive stress.
As a first year student, college is an excellent opportunity to discover one’s own sense of identity and interact with a diverse range of people. Unfortunately, everyone will experience moments of confusion, loneliness, or even disengagement during their college years, which may cause a lack of interest for campus involvement. Through many studies, there are several theories that determine the parallelism between a student’s growth and their involvement interest, which also provides helpful methods for first year students to overcome challenges during this time. As Luckyday mentors this gives us insight to how to carefully approach different situations from mentees while forming a lasting impact on their transition from high school to college.