Wes Akers

Part 1: Weekly Text Reflection

While reading the texts, I connected and identified with the quote below.

“…emerging adults are free to explore possibilities in a variety of areas, especially love and work.”

I identified with the quote because I feel like it defines my 20’s.  This year I will turn 30 so it is interesting to reflect on my lifestyle since I left home.  I feel like I am beginning to exit my time as an emerging adult, but I also feel I am still very much there.  In the quote, my attention was drawn toward the word “free.”  Once I left home, I started to experience a new sense of freedom.  It was kind of frightening.  I had to make decisions I was not used to making.  Although it’s liberating to be free from your parents’ control, I wonder how many emerging adults experience a similar initial sense of fear when entering emerging adulthood.

Most of the fear I felt came when making financial decisions and not feeling confident in my ability to take care of myself.  As I took on different university jobs, I started to feel more secure making financial decisions using a budget.  Although it was difficult, I had to take on financial independence before I turned 20 and it helped me transition out of my adolescences.  When I entered my career field, I felt like I could truly take care of myself.  I had to learn new skills to be able to sustain independence and I am proud I have not needed to revert back to my parents’ help.  It has improved my self-esteem, which has allowed me to feel free to explore myself.  I believe the initial fear passes as emerging adults become more financially secure and confident in their self-discovery process.

For me, relationship building has been the greatest catalyst in my self-discovery and I wonder if other emerging adults feel the same way.  Both romantic and non-romantic relationships have required me to consider how my actions affect others and helped me develop a greater sense of self-awareness.  Relationships have also made me become more open to others’ ideas and behaviors.  By becoming more open, I have been introduced to a lot of different interesting experiences.  My experiences have driven my life choices.  Without my friends and lovers, I would not have developed the courage to take on new challenges and embark on uncertain journeys.  I consider the role family plays in the self-discovery process, especially parents.

Our first experience in relationship building is with our family members.  When I first entered emerging adulthood, I reverted back to my family’s expectations to make decisions.  Now, I feel removed from my family’s expectations and live my life by my own standards.  By doing this, I feel like I have a more honest and open relationship with my family.  I also believe I am more open to allowing them to be a part of and influence my self-discovery process.  I wonder how influential parents’ opinions are in encouraging other emerging adults’ self-discovery.

My parents have encouraged me to explore because they did not have the opportunity to do it when they were in their 20’s.  They did not build the type of relationships I have in my 20’s either because they rushed into marriage and parenthood.  Their generation lived by a different set of expectations regarding relationship building.  I feel my parents were somewhat resentful of becoming adults in their early 20’s.  I speculate this is why many parents are encouraging their emerging adult children to go on adventures and allow them to move home when they haven’t quite figured everything out.  Although my parents and I have had our ups and downs, it is hard to deny the influence they have on my self-discovery process.

Part 2: My Project

I plan to improve my Spanish using Rosetta Stone because I want to be able to better communicate with my students labeled as limited or non English proficient (LEP or NEP).  Additionally, I want to be able to communicate better with parents.  When I call home now and reach a Spanish speaking parent, I don’t have the words to explain why I am calling and I have to find a translator.  I purchased Rosetta Stone a few months ago and started using it for about month.  I think one of the reasons I was unsuccessful relates to the fact I didn’t seek out help from others.  In addition to using Rosetta Stone, I plan to ask a few of my Spanish speaking coworkers to help me converse and practice.  I am also going to ask my roommate to help me because he is Spanish literate.  I think selecting a small group of people to help me practice will allow me to feel more comfortable and build some confidence.  As I feel more secure in my skills, I want to start speaking more Spanish with my students.

Part 3: My Classic Text Choices

My top classic text choice is The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness by Stephen Brookfield because the table of contents looks like it contains practical strategies for understanding adult learners and engaging them in learning.  The chapters on lecturing creatively, fostering discussions, developing simulations, and evaluating learners are the most interesting to me.  I skimmed a few pages from these chapters and I think the text falls in line with my purpose of discovering applied theory.  After speaking with Kelly and Terry last week, I think this text is one of their top choices too.  I would like to work with them because we share the goal of learning about applied theory.  Also, Kelly is starting a job as a classroom teacher for adults and Terry works with refugees returning to school.  Since we are all spending time in a classroom, I feel we will be able to share common experiences working with students that we can connect to the text.

The other text I am considering is Adult Learners: Increasing Participation and Facilitating Learning by K. Patricia Cross.  Like the previous text, I believe this book will offer me practical strategies for classroom application.  I hope the chapters on increasing participation and patterns of adult learning will describe how to implement the theories presented in some of the other chapters.  When looking at the table of contents, I think this text has a balance of theory and application.  My main focus is to find a text that includes applied theory and I think this book could help me with that goal.