Aging is a beautiful challenging unique process that we have the privilege of tackling in each of our lives. For some it may be an easy planned out progression without many bumps in the road, but for most it is an ever changing journey that makes us who we are today. Aging doesn’t always ask us what we want or what we planned on doing with our time, but instead gives us experiences, good and bad, that make up our lives. What better way to understand being an adult and the aging process than to ask people who are right in the middle of it! Because different people with different ages have different experiences, I interviewed a 20 year old, a 58 year old and a 67 year old and asked about their aging experiences. Shaf, a 19 year old college student,
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It was easy to see her drive and desire to learn and tackle challenges as she elaborated on the questions I asked her. Being younger, some questions she could not fully answer because she simply hasn’t had enough life experience to answer certain questions to its entirety. Even though Shaf is relatively young, she has still had some normative transitions. One such transition that was “a defining moment in my life” was getting accepted to UW La Crosse and going to college( Shaf, personal communication, March 2, 2016). It is socially the norm for people to go to college close to, if not right after, high school and Shaf fit that bill and decided to continue her education as a psychology major at UWL. Other milestones Shaf has experienced as “normal” were getting a driver’s license and her first job, but both of those seemed to pale in comparison to the importance for her in getting into UWL. “I have been really independent my entire life, but this is a whole new level of independence” (Shaf, personal communication, March 2, 2016). According to the identity process theory, Whitbourne states (2014)“people use assimilation to interpret their experiences in terms of their existing schemas”(p. 32). Shaf used identity assimilation, which Whitbourne (2014) refers to the “tendency to interpret new experiences in terms of their existing identity”(p. 32) to solidify who she was and what she stood for. Shaf saw herself as an independent person before coming to college and now that she is totally on her own, she builds on that independent identity. Being independent at college forced Shaf to make life and moral decisions like class schedule and dealing with drunk friends independently. When her drunk friends call her to come and pick them up or ask her for help, she has to say no because of her on campus job and being underage. This choice was made not because of her need to be accepted or fit in, but this
It was easy to see her drive and desire to learn and tackle challenges as she elaborated on the questions I asked her. Being younger, some questions she could not fully answer because she simply hasn’t had enough life experience to answer certain questions to its entirety. Even though Shaf is relatively young, she has still had some normative transitions. One such transition that was “a defining moment in my life” was getting accepted to UW La Crosse and going to college( Shaf, personal communication, March 2, 2016). It is socially the norm for people to go to college close to, if not right after, high school and Shaf fit that bill and decided to continue her education as a psychology major at UWL. Other milestones Shaf has experienced as “normal” were getting a driver’s license and her first job, but both of those seemed to pale in comparison to the importance for her in getting into UWL. “I have been really independent my entire life, but this is a whole new level of independence” (Shaf, personal communication, March 2, 2016). According to the identity process theory, Whitbourne states (2014)“people use assimilation to interpret their experiences in terms of their existing schemas”(p. 32). Shaf used identity assimilation, which Whitbourne (2014) refers to the “tendency to interpret new experiences in terms of their existing identity”(p. 32) to solidify who she was and what she stood for. Shaf saw herself as an independent person before coming to college and now that she is totally on her own, she builds on that independent identity. Being independent at college forced Shaf to make life and moral decisions like class schedule and dealing with drunk friends independently. When her drunk friends call her to come and pick them up or ask her for help, she has to say no because of her on campus job and being underage. This choice was made not because of her need to be accepted or fit in, but this