Running head: DEVELOPMENTAL JOURNEY 1

M2: DEVELOPMENTAL JOURNEY

The task of evaluating and reflecting on one’s experiences, especially in terms of a

student development theory, can be quite daunting. I believe that my current role as an

Admissions Counselor has been beneficial in completing this assignment, as I must recall on my

undergraduate experience everyday as I speak and interact with potential students and their

families. But through this course, its readings, my undergraduate experience and my current job,

I felt a connection to James Marcia’s identity model as it builds on Erik Erikson’s idea that one’s

identity and development occurs through a series of ‘crisis’ in addition to Marcia’s model being

less linear and focused on ones occupational, religious and political beliefs (Pascarella &

Terenzini, 2005). Throughout this reflection, I have chosen to focus on my experiences related

to my occupational choice, but I have also encountered both crisis and development in my

religious and political beliefs.

I always like to think my developmental journey begin long before I stepped foot onto a

college campus and that it is still an ongoing process, much in the way that Marica (1980)

explains, “the identity process neither begins nor ends with adolescence. It begins with the self-

object differentiation at infancy and reaches its final phase with the self-mankind integration at

old age” (p. 160). But for the purposes of this assignment, I will limit my journey to those

experiences that directly correlated with my undergraduate experience. In addition, I will

explain how I feel my experiences relate to the four statues that Marcia developed, which include

identity-diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and identity achievement.

Identity-Diffusion: Not knowing who you are or what you want

During my senior year of high school, when all of my friends were applying to colleges

and deciding on their future, I had no idea of what I wanted to do, much less where I wanted to

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DEVELOPMENTAL JOURNEY 2

attend college. I can recall telling people that I was not going to attend college, but instead dance

professionally or maybe just work at a local coffee shop; in all honesty, the idea of college

frightened me and this was my way of coping with the idea. As I continued to question what I

wanted to do with my life, I did have encouragement from my mother who nicely and not too

forcefully helped me to research and apply to three universities. In the end, I found myself

settling on a college that the majority of my friends were planning to attend and with no real

direction of where this college experience might take me.

On move in day, I remember being extremely excited about the prospect of moving away

from home and finally being on my own, but as the day progressed and all of the other students

had finished unpacking their belongings, I realized that my roommate was a no-show and that I

would be living alone. For many students, this would have been wonderful, but for an only child

who is somewhat of an introvert, this presented itself as an issue. I ended up secluding myself

from meeting new students as well as it caused me to rely on the familiarity of those people I

already knew from high school. In addition, I found myself communicating with my parents

more often as I had not really made any new friends and just wanted someone to talk to at the

end of the day.

As I attempted to adapt to my new surroundings and my first-year college experience, I

continued to be drawn to those things that I knew and felt comfortable with; in this case dance.

Declaring myself as a dance minor and becoming a member of the dance team in my freshmen

year allowed me to interact with new students, faculty and staff that I never would have been

introduced to otherwise. But despite this one constant in my life, I was still unsure and

unfocused on my future, including declaring a major and therefore deciding on a career.

Foreclosure: Commitments to beliefs and a future but without exploring options

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DEVELOPMENTAL JOURNEY 3

In my second year of college, I felt pressured to finally declare a major and settle on a

career path, which was English with a literature concentration, in hopes of becoming a teacher. I

had always enjoyed and performed well in my English courses, so the suggestion from my

parents seemed like a natural fit; however, I soon noticed that I lacked the passion that many

other students I knew had for their field of study. I begin to realize this lack of passion as I

entered into some of my English core courses where I found that I could read the material and

study it, but I was unable to develop my own unique thoughts. I found it very difficult to express

my thoughts both in writing and verbally about a passage or text and had to seek out assistance

from my instructors. They were helpful and encouraging, but I never fully developed the critical

thinking skills they were seeking. As a result, I become frustrated with this program of study

and decided to seek out a new major that excited me as well as one that I wanted to pursue.

Moratorium: no real commitment but also a state of experimentation

With the assistance my academic advisor and dance instructor, I decided to explore some

possible major choices. An opportunity to teach young dancers ballet and tap lead me to explore

early childhood education as a possible major. But after only a semester of teaching these young

students, I quickly came to the realization that this was not my calling. From this experience, I

communicated my desire to teach with my dance instructor and was soon offered an opportunity

teaching high school aged students tap, which ended up being a perfect fit for my personality and

desires.

From my academic advisor, I was encouraged to explore different opportunities through

some organizations on campus including the Campus Activities Board and the radio station. I

was also nominated for a unique program on campus called Georgia’s Educational Mentorship

Program (GEM). As a participant in this program I was paired with a member of the Georgia

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DEVELOPMENTAL JOURNEY 4

Chamber of Commerce to complete a mentorship program. My mentor was an African-

American male who had started and owned an architecture firm in Atlanta. Up until that point, I

had never really interacted with a successful business owner of any other race other than my

own, Caucasian, but my mentor truly opened my eyes to the many possibilities that were

available to everyone. In addition, he taught me the benefits of networking as he invited me to

join him at various city, county and state meetings that he attended on a regular bases. This

experience is one that helped me to figure out my major and what I wanted to do with my life.

Identity-achieved: clarity and development of one’s identity

By most standards, I was a late bloomer, but I was finally ready to make some important

decisions in my life. It was in my junior year that I made the decision to join a sorority on

campus as well as declare mass communication with a concentration in public relations my

intended major. Through both of these experiences, I was able to find the voice that I had been

missing and was no longer afraid to declare my opinion and thoughts in class. I also discovered

that I had a knack for working with students as they entered college through my involvement as a

vice-president of my sorority. All of this led to communication with various directors on

campus, specifically of admissions and Greek life, to learn more about a career in these fields.

As a result, by the time I graduated with my undergraduate degree, I knew I wanted to pursue a

career in higher education.

I like to think that I am still developing my identity much in the same way that Marcia

explains his theory. I continue to encounter various crises and learn and grow from these events

all while progressing through the various phases in no particular order. Even as I am drawing

near the end of my graduate experience, I question what is next for my career and how I want to

approach the next chapter in my life.

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DEVELOPMENTAL JOURNEY 5

References

Marcia, J. E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. Handbook of adolescent psychology, 9, 159-187.

Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college affects students (Vol. 2). San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass.

Feedback:

Jessica,Great job using self-reflection and insight and college student development theory.  It's clear you understand that development is a life-long process. As an admissions counselor, you're meeting students during a transitional phase in their developmental process.Just a suggestion: Think about what was most helpful to you during your transitional phase from high school to college.Dr. Parks

J Gore