Saturday, February 16, 2008
#6 The Parent in All of Us
The typical stereotype of a college freshman usually amounts to an out-of-control child away from home for the first time. What I've noticed in my first two semesters of college is that although we are legally adults, freshman act more immature than ever. During the final years of highschool teens generally feel like they're capable of living alone and their parents are more of a nuisance yet they leave home and good judgement depletes. Examples would be eating and excercise habits, excessive drinking, and sexual decisions. I'm stereotyping to a certain extent, however, this is a constant observation. So why is it that we're given a chance to run our own lives and things tend to go haywire? Possibly not because one feels they can make their own decisions but rather, they're tired of listening to others make those decisions. Parents are also a huge factor in their teens adaptation to college life. If they were over-bearing and strict when raising their child, rebellion later in life is almost garunteed. My parents were very easy going when it came to letting me make my own decisions and our relationship was healthy. I can say from personal expirience, this helped me to make good decisions and to take care of myself away from home. All in all it's a test of time to figure our how to parent yourself. Being a freshman in college is just a year of total confusion, for most.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
It is very sad to see college freshmen change their morals their first year because they are away from their parents. I agree that many students change their habits and decisions when they are put in this new college environment; also, I agree that it is because college freshman can now make their own decisions without their parents getting in the way. But how do you raise a teenager to make the right decision?
I think that a person’s own morals will affect their decisions in life. If parents were too strict then I think this will definitely have an effect, but it is also a matter of what the individual's beliefs are. My parents still try to be enforce strict rules on me when I go home, but then they realize that I can make my own decisions based on my own morals. I think that the importance of parenting has to do with raising your children with the knowledge on how to guide their life in the right direction. Furthermore, it is up to each individual college freshman about what path in life they want to take. Their parents did the best they could do and now they have to follow their own morals to make decisions for themselves in this new college environment.
#7: Extra Credit
I too believe that “parents are a huge factor in their teen’s adaptation to college life.” Parents who are “overbearing and strict” should be prepared for their child to rebel in college. One of my friends sadly, had overbearing parents. Everything she did, she had to get permission from her parents to do so, even if it was as small as getting a smoothie on the way home from school. Now that she is in college, my friend has now engaged in rebellious acts. Recently, she told me that she wanted to get her belly-button pierced, and she wanted to get a tattoo; her parents would kill her. She also has begun to have relations with many boys, she has started to drink and party excessively, and in response her grades are dropping. Naturally, she is lying to her parents and blaming her bad grades on things other than herself.
I am blessed to have been raised by what I’d like to call “well-rounded” parents. My parents were not lenient but they weren’t strict either. I was able to make choices on my own and experience life in the way a teenager should. In result, I have not changed because of college. I am the same person I was when I was a senior in high school, because I was able to figure it all out by the time I left home. This is ideal, because if you need to be straightened out, your parents are there to help.
#7 Extra Credit
This title caught my eye because as the eldest of three children, I have found my "inner parent" on more than one occasion. Being the first born, I was the guinea pig for my parents. My mom will admit that she tended to walk around the house with me on one hip and a parenting book in her free hand. Despite what they say about being confused on how to raise a child, my mother and my father have excelled in bringing up myself along with my two little brothers. They have let us make our own mistakes and fall on our faces, but have been there every single time to pick us back up, dust our knees off, and put us right back in the game. They also understand better than anyone else that each one of us has our own personality as well as our own goals. My dream of being a ballerina differ drastically from my brother's baseball goals. My personality is a world away from my youngest brother's autistic nature. Yet my parents have succeeded in adapting and encouraging all three of us to achieve what we want while being who we are. It is through my parents' everlasting encouragement that I am here today holding the morals that I have. I agree that freshman year is a confusing time, but I feel that with this idea of finding responsibility, like that of aparent, within oneself will help to ease the confusion. As a result, we will have the ability to make good decisions that would make our parents proud.
I have been a student here at TCU for four years now and have seen this many times. It’s a new world for most people and they almost don’t know how to react to it. I know for half of my first semester I was the stereotypical college freshman, partying, drinking, and just doing stupid things. In fact I almost lost my scholarship because of my “extracurricular activities.” I had responsibility thrust upon me in November and it really made me grow up quickly. My older brother had a daughter on November 11 2004. He was working as a salesman at Ultimate Electronics at the time and the mother was a nurse. They both worked full time and couldn’t afford the loss of either’s income so that someone could stay home and care for the baby. That responsibility fell on my mother and me. Between the two of us we took care of little baby Kaitlyn every day. Nothing quite shocks you into growing up like caring for another person, especially another person who is so helpless. Granted that I did end up missing a final and failing a, in the long run it did make me much more responsible. Although I’m not ready to be a father myself I think that my college experience has made me less of a partier and more of a parent.
Post a Comment