Blog #3

            I really enjoyed reading Arnett (2000)’s article this week because he put into words what I have felt about my status as an adult since I was about 18.  Throughout college I knew that technically I was an adult, but I always shied away from calling myself a woman and preferred to be referred to as a girl.  To me, being a woman is synonymous with being an adult.  I am becoming more comfortable with the words “woman” and “adult” now, but it has been a recent shift.  Most of the characteristics of emerging adulthood that Arnett (2000) describes have been very true of me over the past few years.  The aspect of emerging adulthood that struck me the most was identity exploration.  I entered college with a set of very traditional beliefs and values.  My major as a nursing student helped to solidify these values during my first two years of college.  Many of my classmates had similar worldviews as me.  Even though I anticipated graduating with a BA in Nursing, I really wanted to get married immediately following college and have four children by the time I was thirty (Doesn’t that sound awesome?). I relished the idea of being a stay at home mom.  Gradually, and after switching my major to Sociology, many of my beliefs and goals changed.  The thought of marriage in the immediate future became less desirable; I wanted to have a successful career, and the idea of having kids soon seemed like a nightmare.

            Corey and Corey (2008) assisted me in my self-reflection as to how I have been becoming more autonomous as I transition into adulthood.  As an emerging adult, I have found myself assessing how my upbringing has shaped me and how I can distance myself from injunctions that may be self-defeating.  In college, I saw a therapist briefly who helped me identify some of the messages that my dad had been sending me.  While very loving, my dad sometimes put too much pressure on me to be the fastest runner (He began college on an athletic scholarship.), the best student (He was valedictorian.) and remain thin (He never became fat.).  Not only did he lead by example, but he also verbalized that any college but UVa was not good enough for me and constantly criticized anyone who was overweight, even athletes such as Serena Williams.  Corey and Corey (2008) would probably say that my dad was telling me not to fail, to be perfect and to live up to my potential.  It has been difficult to get these thoughts out of my head.

            Reading Corey and Corey (2008) assisted me in reflecting more on how I can fight negative injunctions in my head.  Arnett (2000)’s article offered me hope for change.  I realized that I have already grown so much and there is always room for more.  As a counselor, I hope to encourage children and teens to overcome negative injunctions as they transition into early adulthood.

Arnett, J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, Vol. 55, No. 5, 469-480.

Corey, G., & Corey, M.S. (2008). I never knew I had a choice: Explorations in personal growth (9^th ed.). Belmont, California: Thompson Brooks/Cole. ISBN: 9780495602293.