Essay 2
Adrian Alston
Writing and Rhetoric
David Alferi
4 April, 2020
Essay 2
College students go through a great deal of experiences while being in college. From the work loads to their personal problem, they have to stay on top of their “A Game” in order not to fall short. In other words not falling a class and being able to manage their problems other than school work, has them occupied. Being that this is so, a college student never really has the time to discover what he or she may wanna do in life, they have no time to find their purpose.
College is supposed to be an outlet for students that provides services to help them find themselves. In Does College Education Serve Any Purpose, Horia I. Petrache mentions, “College students are expected to prove and improve their intellectual ability, oral and written communication skills, maturity, initiative, learning potential and discipline, critical thinking, imagination, enthusiasm, engagement, reliability, self-criticism, and personal responsibility”. This author lets it be known that students are meant to be occupied by something other than classes because the traits connect to students in and outside the classroom. While in Becoming A Real Person, David Brooks states, “Making meaning of experiences and finding an organization purpose that you build a unique individual self. This process, he argues, often begins in college”. Brooks explains, when a student is in college there’s a good chance they’ll find who they wanna be in life through their experiences and Petrache speaks on the expectation that they would be constantly improving. The authors connect because students become more advanced in their experiences when they continue to improve their traits, but colleges have to play their role in order for it to be significant.
Students starting a new journey and going through experiences help shape them as a person. It’s a student’s job to let go of their fears and get around, but universities should help students become more active with things out of their comfort zone. Help them experience more than just the college campus. As I said before connection to Horia I. Colleges have to play a role and provide the opportunity for students to become more involved, so that students can be able to advance themselves and grow. In“In College, Finding Moral Purpose.” Tim William states, “Universities should provide students with opportunities to engage in meaningful service learning beyond the walls of the university, using their knowledge not only to advance themselves but others as well, and broaden their horizons in the process”(Williams). This lets it be known that with the help of the college a student can become more than a student, but in order to do so they have to provide their helping hand. This connects to Effects of Involvement in Clubs and Organizations on the Psychosocial Development of First-Year and Senior College Students by John Foubert & Lauren Grainger.
When people think of clubs and organizations in colleges many things may come to mind, most people would always think about how much fun they would have if they showed up to an event, they never think about the development they’d gain from being involved. Foubert & Grainger states,“The amount of personal development and learning that can occur is directly proportional to the quality and quantity of student involvement”(Foubert). The more a student is involved the more developed they become. The impact from developing has a lot to do with discovering an identity for yourself and being involved is a key to clarifying that purpose. Development can influence a student to become more seriously involved, for example aiming to take on leadership roles in organizations, instead of being a student that could just attend a meeting.
Taking action has a lot to do with letting go of your fears, speaking out and being a leader, it’s an important factor for students. No matter what year in college students may be this can be hard for everyone. In 3 Ways to Grow as an Individual in College by Kaelyn Dickinson she speaks on the beauty of personal development on campus, not waiting around for others to do something for you. Students must understand that their development process is one of a kind and letting go of their fears will shape who they can become. Dickinson states,“Each experience and learning process is a piece to our identity puzzle. In order to develop and grow, it is important to be open and accepting change”(Dickinson). Going through with something is a key to becoming more, building yourself throughout different experiences will help shape the person you seek to become. Connecting to John Foubert & Lauren Grainger when it comes to students being more involved that brings more development. This is why students need to take action and go above and beyond, the more action they take, the better their identity is shaped.
Even though college is important for being a source for students to find themselves, it still has its flaws. Students being occupied with classes wouldn’t seem like a bad thing, but how can this benefit students when most of their time has to go to their classes and homework.. In Finding More Than Yourself in College by Bill R. Path, he speaks on the fact that college students graduate and have trouble finding employment for a long time. It was said that college students spend most of their time only attending classes, doing homework and taking tests. Students need extracurricular activities to help them develop into well-rounded adults and there are a variety of things students can partake in to grow as an individual. Even though the author fears there are some students who spend too much time on extracurricular activities. He states, “However, if students want to get the most out of college, they need to engage in these activities but not allow them to become a distraction from their academic endeavors”(Path). I feel like this can be one of the main path holders for students to find themselves. Making sure they don’t get too caught up in their activities or school work, being able to manage a decent schedule for the both will benefit them in the long run.
In conclusion students go to college and they are surrounded by opportunity. Hoping that they would embrace it sooner than later isn’t enough, colleges play a role in helping a student embrace themselves and they must play that role at all times. Students also have to be able to get off their feet and take on challenges that’ll help them grow. Getting out of their comfort zone and being more than just a student will be the key for them to discover who they wanna be in life. Clubs and organizations are a good source for students to lose fear on campus, from that point forward they can go above and beyond and seek to create their own club or organization. Overall once a student becomes involved, many doors will open to them and the person they may wish to become won’t be too far away. As long as the student loses fear, gets involved, takes action and maintains both their school work and outside school life.
Work Cited
Foubert, John & Grainger, Lauren. (2006). Effects of Involvement in Clubs and Organizations on the Psychosocial Development of First-Year and Senior College Students. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice. 43. 166-`82. 10.2202/1949-6605.1576.
Dickinson, Kaelyn, and Name *. “3 Ways to Grow as an Individual in College.” Student, 15 Sept. 2017, go.marybaldwin.edu/student/2017/09/15/3-ways-grow-individual-college/
https://go.marybaldwin.edu/student/2017/09/15/3-ways-grow-individual-college/
Machan, Tim William. “In College, Finding Moral Purpose.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Sept. 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/opinion/in-college-finding-moral-purpose.html.
Path, Bill R. “Finding More Than Yourself in College.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/finding-more-than-yoursel_b_7861124.