Transition is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately. In the past 3 weeks, I have resigned from an old job, started a new job, moved from rural central Pennsylvania to Oakland, and begun living apart from my partner (whom I have been living with for the past 7 years). It has been a very up-and-down few weeks. The excitement of new opportunities at CMU and in Pittsburgh has been tempered with the anxiety that goes along with opening up a new chapter in my career and personal life.
In a roundabout way, thinking about my current transition has helped me to reflect on our students and the important transitions that they experience while living on-campus. In many ways the business of higher education is all about transition. Each semester sees new students arriving on campus while others depart. During their time with us students choose majors, study abroad, take on leadership opportunities (like being a CA!) and learn more about who it is that they are, and who they hope to become. We are constantly surrounded by transition.
As you think about the CA role, how do you see yourself being a resource to your residents as they experience the many transitions that are a part of the college experience? Schlossberg (1995) defines transition as “any event, or non-event, that results in changed relationships, routines, assumptions, and roles.” By that definition, transitions are happening all of the time! Schlossberg identified four major sets of factors that influence how well a person can cope with transition (Evans, Forney, & Guido-DeBrito, 1998). Let’s identify those factors, and reflect on how we can help our residents.
Situation: Important factors include the timing of the situation, the duration of the transition, and previous experiences with similar transitions. During a transition, individuals will also be dealing with concurrent stresses and questions about whether or not they feel in control during the changes. Working in the residence halls and apartments, we may have some real insight that our residents would benefit from. We also live within the situation . . . and as an outsider we may have some unique perspective on the situation.
Self: During transition, we think about who we are in terms of demographic characteristics (socioeconomic status, gender, etc.) and psychological resources. How has our background prepared us to manage this transition? As CAs, we can play a role in helping students to know more about who they are through programming, conversation, and our relationships with each other.
Support: To manage a transition, individuals need to feel a sense of support. A supportive community is one of my favorite aspects of residence hall and apartment living. What can we do as CAs to make sure that everyone in our community feels that they will receive affirmation, assistance, and positive feedback when they need it?
Strategies: To manage transition, you need a plan in order to proceed. When we talk to our residents about their transitions (or when they come to use for mentoring and guidance), how can we help them to move forward in productive ways, while leaving it up to the student to decide how best to move forward?
I hope that this blog post is some “food for thought” as you prepare to return to campus. I know that meeting everyone for CA Training is part of my transition that I am very much looking forward to!
References:
Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., & Guido-DiBrito, F. (1998). Schlossberg's transition thoery. In Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 107-122). San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Schlossberg, N.K., Waters, E.B., & Goodman, J. (1995). Counseling adults in transition (2nd ed.). New York: Springer.
No comments:
Post a Comment