Transitions

Before I can even come to grips with the transitions that are required of me to become a full-fledged college student, I must first conceptualize and deal with re-entering the concept of a learning environment after the lapse of time that has occurred since I left High School proper. I graduated from Parkville High back in 2008 and enjoyed a summer vacation completely free of responsibility. I didn't want to have to jump right back into the "stranglehold" of education when I had just been released from it and I wanted to unwind before entering the workforce. Of course, I found myself employed that fall and for almost four years straight I devoted myself to my work. But like all things, this too met it's end and I now found myself interested in bettering myself through continuing my education.

Separation is the first step of the process detailed by Vincent Tinto, and with going into the passage of almost a full month of college, I now find myself truly experiencing that transition. I am realizing that I can no longer follow the same habits and behaviors that I had been prior to this on-going month of learning. Unlike when I was employed, I have deadlines and responsibilities imposed upon my shoulders and though I may stumble some, I must learn to balance them towards an effective, fruitful schedule. Thus, I am now barreling into the Transition period of this transition: learning a new way of life that will allow me to adapt and flourish as a student. It will take conscientious effort on my part to bring these changes about, but anything worth doing is worth going through difficulty to achieve.

Incorporation will be the true end goal of my new path in life and hopefully I will achieve it without falling too far or too hard in the pursuit of this new definition of me not only as a student, but as a person as well. I do not agree with Mr. Tinto that college is more a socialization process, but neither do I believe it is something based on one's intellect. I view it more as an exercise in the self discovery of one's own inner rhythm, paired with a developing of self discipline to capitalize on that rhythm to achieve the highest saturation into one's learning environment in order to gain the most from the educational process.