Event # 1

On Saturday September 2, I attended the Resident Assistant Leadership Conference at Providence College. The conference included multiple different sessions centered around leadership and learning. Many of the sessions were both interesting and useful; I gained valuable insights and learned various worthwhile skills.

 But the session that I actually took the most from was a session about keeping a positive attitude while facing adversity. The session was presented by a young college student who has spent the majority of his life in a wheel chair. He talked about the many challenges that he has faced over his so-far short lifetime. He also spoke about how he has gotten used to people treating him differently at first. He said that oftentimes people do not understand how to interact with him, but he is patient and willing to help them.

His speech reminded me very much of what Nakkula wrote about in chapter two. He told us all about his journey through adolescence and how difficult it was for him to find his place in the world around him. This is difficult for anyone, but it was especially difficult for him. It sounded to me like he had reached a point of achieved identity because he is now at peace with his place in the world and the life he wants to live. But he said it did not come easy. He went through a lot of struggle and turmoil before he got to that point.

More on Marcia's theory here: http://www.learning-theories.com/identity-status-theory-marcia.html

Challenges for adolescents in wheel chairs: http://www.christopherreeve.org/site/c.mtKZKgMWKwG/b.5380887/k.B2E1/BacktoSchool_What_it_Means_When_Youre_Using_a_Wheelchair.htm

RW Video

I really enjoyed the video! It was definitely enlightening listening to all of these youth, and their parents, talk about the experiences they have been having within schools. I had no idea the extent to which some of these students struggle during the school day. I was even quite frankly shocked by the way some of the teachers treat their students! It's bad enough that adolescents in general have a hard time navigating these transitional years and discovering their self-identity. But it is even more difficult for students who are coming from different cultures that may not be the norm.

I think this video taught me that it is important to celebrate diversity inside and outside of the classroom. Especially for adolescents who are at an extremely integral time in their lives, it is important for youth to celebrate and embrace their culture and to have it accepted by others.

http://www.slideshare.net/butlerm2/diversity-6483240

Nakkula Ch. 2

Nakkula speaks a lot about a person's different identities within different contexts. People generally have one true version of themselves, but most likely will tend to make small changes here and there in the way they may act around different groups of people or in different places. This is the natural process of figuring out how we fit in with the rest of the world and the people around us. Adolescence is the time where young people are especially going through this self-discovery state. Teenagers may 'try on' different versions of themselves to see which one fits the best. It can be difficult to navigate these uncertain waters in a world full of different places and people. Julian was going through a good deal of anxiety and stress in concern to his identity. He was torn between who to be with all of his different groups. After the tagging incident, Mitch asked Julian to think about all of the different contexts in his life and to think about when he feels safe, or anxious, or uneasy. He then asked him to draw a superhero with the superpowers that it would take to go through all the challenges Julian was currently facing. In essence, Mitch was asking Julian to make a context map.

Here is my context map:

RIC: classes, professors, school friends
RA: new hall residents, RA staff, supervisors
Res Life Office: other workers, clients, staff, supervisors
AE (work): coworkers, supervisor, customers
L4L: coworkers, supervisors, clients
Social: RA friends, resident friends, home friends, class friends, work friends

4 Different Identities:

Foreclosed Identity: A foreclosed identity is one in which there was no experimenting to find yourself. This identity is just accepted without question. It may be thrust upon you by family or circumstance, and it is just followed without challenge. But you are fully committed to this identity which you may or may not have chosen for yourself.

Diffuse Identity:  There is no crisis of commitment to one particular identity. There has been little exploration or consideration of one's identity. A person with a diffuse identity is likely to be easily influenced by others and can rapidly change identities.

Identity Moratorium: A person in moratorium is actively searching for different roles and beliefs but does not yet make a commitment to a particular identity. This stage often comes with much anxiety as an individual struggles with figuring out their true identity.

Achieved Identity The crisis of identity is resolved and commitment to the achieved identity is very high. This is usually brought about by an intense period of searching, and now results in an achieved identity status.