This week’s readings were particularly interesting to me because
I very much took advantage of the emerging adulthood phase. I grew up as a
Jehovah’s Witness, so we were always taught that we weren’t to go to college
because that would put us too much at risk to be swayed by non-believers. Thus,
I just always assumed that wouldn’t ever be something I would do. I also grew
up poor in a single parent household so I knew we wouldn’t have the money for
such things anyways adding to my beliefs that I would graduate high school and
go straight into trying to provide for myself by obtaining a full time job. I
had already been working for quite some time to help provide for myself, so
this didn’t seem like anything major. Once I graduated high school at 17, I
quickly was promoted at Target to a department manager (or team leader as they
call it). From there I moved around managing many different departments all
over the store. Finally, 2 and a half years after I graduated high school and
after having a multitude of people tell me that I was too smart not to go to
college, having a boyfriend that was going to college, and learning about
financial aid I decided to go to Penn State for the only thing I knew I was
interested in, psychology. So I went through school and by the end came out
knowing that I loved psychology and children but since school psychology wasn’t
for me I had no idea what to do with it. So I interviewed and was once again
promoted within in Target (I worked there full time while I was at Penn State),
this time I was promoted to an executive. I was in charge of the entire
softlines (clothing) half of the store and was on the fast track to becoming a
store manager. However, after a year of this I decided I still desperately
wanted to work with children in some capacity which is when I learned about
Emotional Support teachers. So I applied to get a job as an Emotional Support
teacher and was hired on an emergency certificate and returned to school. That’s
when I finished my first master’s degree. As you can see by my little synopsis
of my life from ages 17-26 I definitely took advantage of the emerging
adulthood phase in my own way. I tried working straight out of high school,
went to college, got promoted several times, went back to school to pursue a
different career, and so forth. I definitely used that time and those
experiences to try a multitude of different lives and I still haven’t quite
finished as I’ve now returned to school for my 2nd master’s degree
in school counseling.
Then we read all about all the forms of adulthood in our text
and how they each look. I’ve definitely seen people go through different types
of adulthood. For instance, my grandfather is very much still alive and doing
well, lives independently and still tinkers and takes care of the deer,
kittens, and any other wild animals he can find to feed near his home. Whereas,
before her passing, my grandmother was very bitter and angry and helpless. She
clearly had some unfulfilled business left to attend to in life, however, she never
got to complete whatever it was that left her wanting. The book was very
accurate in the sense that we definitely do not value our elders as many
cultures did in the past, now elderly people have very much become this group
of people who are looked at as an immense burden, rather than seen for the
wisdom and insights they might provide.
References:
Corey, G. & Corey, M. S. (2010).
Adulthood and Autonomy. In Brooks/Cole (9th edition), I Never Knew I Had a Choice (68-104). Belmont,
CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
Arnett, J.J. (2000).
Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the
twenties. American Psychologist, 5
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