Cathy Small known as her pen name under Rebekah Nathan is a professor and a graduate coordinator of anthropology at Northern Arizona University. During a leave of absence from teaching, during the fall of 2002 at the age of 52 she enrolled as a student at Northern Arizona University, signing up for a standard first year range of courses. During that time for Nathan as a student life, she saw, observed and felt the social life between US students and international students which became her main target and purpose. Nathan’s main point argues about how “international students saw “individualism” and “independence” as a characteristic not only of a roommate interactions but in relations with family and friends as well” (Nathan 73). Which can be said in easier terms that US college life is a life where you have to live alone, stay alone and work alone, means doing everything independently. One of her topic and focus is on the Social life and making friends on US university campuses. From my point of view, I agree with Nathan’s claims and observation because many young adults imagine vivid pictures of what college might be like for them. However, once these young adults mature into independent men and women, and enter into the school of their choice, they soon realize the reality of the college lifestyle. Students must learn to adapt to their new surroundings as quickly as possible to accomplish the sought after degrees. Students come to the realization that life is not as easy as they might hope for. They understand the fact that they have worked hard from middle school to high school to enter in into their dream college and fulfil their dream job. Where some US students decide to isolate themselves from being in a social life and inte...
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... individualism and independence going around the campus as not only of a roommate interactions but in relations with family and friends as well. In easier terms that US college life is a life where you have to live alone, stay alone and work alone, means doing everything independently. Based on her observation, Stahl and my ethnographic, I agree with what Nathan claimed was true because they understand the fact that they have worked hard from middle school to high school to enter in into their dream college and fulfil their dream job. Where some US students decide to isolate themselves from being in a social life and interacting with international students or other things that they consider as a “distraction” because some ought to think that why make new friends when you already have some, why waste time on new people. US students mainly focus on them, them and them.
The authors research the “college and party life” that is associated with students through the perspectives of women. Due to paradoxical experiences in places of higher education, the study chooses to focus entirely
He feels that students who want to fit in finds a sense of haven in a college where there are limitless possibilities of being part of a group of “us” rather then them. “Throughout human history, most people have lived around some definable place – tribal ring, river junction, or Town Square. The reality is that modern suburbia is merely the latest iteration of the American dream, David Brooks” Before the construction of the first transcontinental railroad so called the pacific railroad many people lived within the resources of the town square, on the contrary people seek to find something new for them self as a means of traveling to the outer most terrains to express freedom to freely go as they please. In addition the similarities between a sense of us and the freedom of individuals who feel the need to go beyond the borders of their comfort zone is expressed through their decision to face uncertainty weather the choices they made is beneficial or
Our literature review consisted of six scholarly articles that were studies done on students who were going into college. The first article that we found focused on how important communication is when it comes to making friends. McEwan & Guerrero (2010) talked about the benefits of communication before getting to know someone. We based our questions off of this article regarding communication in order to find out about roommate interactions.
In their book Paying for the Party, Armstrong and Hamilton discuss how universities take class differences and class projects of distinct women to define what will be their college experience. In their book, Armstrong and Hamilton define class projects as individual and class characteristics that defines a person’s agenda and class- based orientation. Hence, people with similar class projects, not only shared the same financial and cultural resources, but also the same expectations toward school. (Armstrong & Hamilton, 2013). As a result, Armstrong and Hamilton claims that students with similar class projects end up becoming a collective constituency and a representative group for the university, whom in turn must take their interests to form a college pathway for them. Therefore, a college pathway for Armstrong and Hamilton refers to how universities are able to take successfully the interests, class characteristics and expectations of students to mold within the organizational and architecture context of the school. In a way, each college pathway is built not only to represent, but also to provision and guide the different types of students in a college.
In a study she conducted, there are some weaknesses. She places heavy emphasis on the study where she asks 38 women “if the university would hand you a bachelor’s degree right now, … would you take the degree and leave?” (101). The weakness of this study is the fact that the sample size is a mere 38 women. It is not a high enough number when considering the thousands of undergraduates that are enrolled in her university alone. Then, only 13 responded that they did not want to miss out on the college experience; this proves nothing of undergraduate preference of the college experience. When considering the college experience, it is difficult to define what that truly means. Nathan presents it as “the joys and benefits of living within the college culture rather than in the real world,” but her definition is not set (102). I am having the college experience, but I am not “living within the college culture” because I live at home and commute to school (102). I do not experience dorm life or the constant being on campus, but rather I live a life with some college culture. I also feel the pressures of the “real word” when I balance a budget for my education and go to my job at a school district that is building my resume as an educator (102). My college experience can be defined as the joys and benefits of attending college and the occasional event. Although neither
In Jennie Capo Crucet 's essay, “Taking My Parents To College,” Crucet describes her own experience as a freshman college student who was faced with many challenges that were unknown to her, as well as the cluelessness of what the beginning of her freshman year would look like. I felt like the biggest impression Crucet left on me while I was reading her essay, was the fact that I can relate to her idea of the unknown of college life. Throughout her essay, she described her personal experiences, and the factors one might face as a freshman college student which involved the unknown and/or uncertainty of what this new chapter would bring starting freshman year of college. Crucet’s essay relates to what most of us
In Jennine Crucet’s story, “Taking My Parents to College” she really explains to the reader how challenging it was leaving home and starting a new chapter in her life. When the author and her family first arrived to Cornell University, they were sitting there when the dean ended his speech with: “Now, parents, please: Go!” Being a first generation college student Crucet nor her family had any idea that they were not supposed to stay for orientation and had to leave her as soon as they got her settled in. They did not even have all the right materials and supplies that she needed to begin with by stating, “Every afternoon that week, we had to go back to the only department store we could find, the now-defunct Ames, for some stupid thing we hadn’t known was a necessity, something not in our budget: shower shoes, extra-long twin sheets, mesh laundry bags.” Both Crucet and I suffered from similar issues during our first few weeks on our new journey in college and we both had no idea what was ahead of us.
How imperative is it that one pursues a traditional college experience? Although it might appear that Charles Murray and Liz Addison are in agreement that the traditional college experience is not necessary for everyone, Addison provides a more convincing argument that higher education is necessary in some form. This is seen through Addison’s arguments that college is essential to growing up, that education is proportional to the life one lives, and that community college reinvents the traditional college experience. Not only does Addison have her own opinions about college, but Murray does as well.
Imagine telling that to a student who just finished four years of hard, grueling, expensive work; or, even worse, a parent who paid for their child to finish that same grueling work. But, in some ways, that statement can’t be any further from the truth. College can prepare a student for life in so many more ways than for a career. However, in the way that college is supposed to prepare soon-to-be-productive students, that statement could be right on. As a student myself, I’ve found college to be a little bit of both. I often find myself asking, "How will this help me later in life?" But, then again, college gives me more control over my life and where I want it to go. In trying to figure out what exactly made college like this, and whether the way I felt was felt by others as well, I interviewed an Anthropology teacher at Las Positas College, Mr. Toby Coles, and I examined an essay by Caroline Bird called College is a Waste of Time and Money. The two sources offered interesting views from both side of the spectrum.
Pages 94 - 108 discuss the floor and how the girls interacted with one another upon move in day and throughout the semester. The section begins with a description of Alana who felt a lack of connection with the girls on her floor. The other girls on her floor had only hung out with her once, and they used her as a designated driver causing Alana to not want to return to MU her sophomore year. By the end of the year, half the floor were defined as isolates including Alana because they can only claim one other friend (other than roommate) on the floor. Eighteen of these twenty five women were from less privileged families. They are “less likely to have the funds, time, social tastes, and knowledge necessary to successfully engage in college social life” causing them to have trouble fitting in (Armstrong/Hamilton, 96).
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.
As an individual stuck amidst a foundation known for its propensity to breed social congruity, college has opened my eyes to numerous distinctive reasons why individuals decide to act in ways they wouldn't regularly act. Since they ordinarily aren't certain of their character, adolescents are more inclined to similarity than others. In the most essential structure, college is tormented with congruity through the generalizations that learners seek after and explore different avenues regarding trying to uncover their personality. There are two sorts of Conformity: the kind that makes you do your errands when your father authorizes you to, and the less than great kind in which you aimlessly take after the thoughts and tenets of an inner circle or gathering, without addressing the negative impacts it has upon yourself and the improvement of whatever remains of public opinion. Conformity is basic in that people strive for a feeling of strength and acknowledgement in their lives. As a result of this need, “we therefore figure out how to fit in with principles of other individuals. What's more the more we see others carrying on in a certain manner or settling on specific choices, the more we feel obliged to stick to this same pattern.” Despite the freedoms we are supposed to have in American society most adolescents find it difficult to have their own identity.
College can be a scarce transition for individuals, especially for the ones who have lived at home their whole lives. While college is said to be one of the best experiences, there are negative factors that eventually add up. Students who live under their parents roofs or attend high school, usually have their day-to-days lives planned. A typical day in the life of a student may be going to school for eight hours, participating in an activity after school, coming home to a home-cooked meal, and going to bed. Where, college is the first year a student may experience more independence and a non-planned agenda. Most individuals know when going to college they’re going to miss the familiar feeling of their hometown, home-made meals, and their own
Social Media has become a very essential tool in the society; in addition, it has a huge impact on communication and learning process. Social media is defined as websites and applications used for social networking. “As of September 2013, seventy-one percent of online adult use Facebook, eighteen percent use Twitter and seventeen percent use Instagram, twenty-two percent use PInterest, and another twenty-two percent use LinkedIn. (PewReasearch, 2013). In addition, "Between February 2005 and August 2006, the use of social networking sites among young adult internet user ages eighteen and twenty-nine jumped from nine percent to forty-nine percent. The usage of social media had grown drastically.” On social media sites like these, users may develop biographical profiles, communicate with friends and strangers, do research, and share thoughts, photos, music, links, and more” (Socialnetworking.procon,2012). Social media has impacted everyone in several different ways. In this present time, majority of college student use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Social media has a bold impact college student's grades, social interactions, and the teaching and learning process.
A new experience, a change from the norm, looking out for myself, and living on my own: for me this is college. The transition of high school student to college seemed immensely overwhelming and even a bit scary. The shift opened a can of worms and created challenges, both good and bad, behind every corner. Due to the change of scene, I am now dealing with the everyday acceptance of the greater world around me: the town, the people and my new life.