Adults In Transition

I would like to take this opportunity to express my thoughts, observations, and reflections on the academic writing that was presented within the Capella University writing course. The enclosed portfolio will provide additional detail to what I have learned throughout this course, and showcase my strengths and weaknesses.

A simple sentence sparks not only conversations, but also friendship. For me, that sentence was, "Hey, I heard you speak Chinese." This meager attempt to start a conversation sparked an enduring friendship with Brock, a co-worker at the grocery store where I worked part-time. Our friendship helped me overcome debilitating anxiety that made most social interactions stressful as opposed to enjoyable.

When I first started this course, I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew it would educate me on the matters of choosing a career and post-secondary life but I never realized how in-depth it would be. In the end, I learned so much from this course, I now have a post-secondary plan in mind, and I know which path I need to take to get there. When I look back on all I achieved in the two short weeks of this course, I am extremely proud of all I achieved. I hope to use all the profitable knowledge I obtained in this course for the rest of my life.

Every individual has a different background and it is our job as educators to take that into consideration as we educate our students. While reading the articles and watching the film, I realized that not all students are fortunate enough to have a stable household and some may not even have a roof over their heads at night. I was in awe by the amount of homeless youth that are out on the streets of Chicago every night. In the film, The Homestretch, it stated that 2,000-3,000 homeless youth were out on the streets every night. It also stated 19,000 students are registered as homeless within Chicago public schools. This made me realize the challenges they go through just in one single day. I began to realize that education is not their number one priority, it is surviving through the night. How can we ask students to do homework at night, when they don’t even have a place to go to?

One stanza of eleven lines constitutes Wendell Berry’s poem The Peace of Wild Things. For its brief duration, the poem maintains neither a constant meter nor rhyme scheme. Instead, Berry uses strong imagery such as the “still water” and “the day-blind stars” as well as depictions of “the wood drake” and “great heron” to demonstrate his idea of “the grace of the world.” Additionally, multiple sentences use repetition of the world “I,” which gives the poem a more personal feel. This technique along with the poem’s images helps to the reader relate to the anxiety causing the narrator of the poem to seek “peace” in the beauty of the wild.

Attending Georgia Military College helps students prepare themselves for the future. Georgia Military College organization makes students consider the future, while they successfully grow toward graduating. As I continue to attend college and dedicatedly work towards the future, it is up to me to decide the goals that I am striving to work for, whether they are college, career, or lifetime goals. All goals have to be worked for, which means that they are certain tasks that have to be completed in order to pursue those goals. Quite frankly, college requires a lot of work, however, students should put their goals in perspective so that they can achieve them in college successfully. Setting goals as a college student has helped shaped my

Lindsey Pollak provides suggestions to ease the transition from student to career for the recent, or soon to be college graduate. The lucid writing style she uses in her book provides a sense of comfort to an inevitably stressful period in our lives. Pollak start’s off the chapter encouraging the reader to not worry about the things we have not done, or should have done. It would be easy for me to get caught up on the would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. However, the most important thing is to make a commitment to yourself to start on your career path today. I appreciate the reality check provided in regard to statistics about the job market and recent graduates. It would be wonderful upon graduating that our dream job would immediately present

Having four toddlers is a struggle. Having four toddlers and going to college seems impossible, but it isn’t. Cory Mehnert figured out a way to do it, and so can others. It’s all about finding the right college, she explains, “National Lewis had a great program for adults, so I was able to go to school while being a mom and that was really important to me.” Working hard reaps rewards and allows a person to mature, and Cory Mehnert is an excellent example of this.

There are many potential benefits and pitfalls of these social and biological changes that are occurring in the second decade of the twenty-first century. Many examples come from the essays, “The Limits of Friendship”, “What Is It about 20-Somethings?”, and “Attention Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era.” All three authors describe these social and biological changes in different ways. In some ways, Restak, Henig, and Konnikova have similarities in their essays.

I have sat in on several of these transition to adulthood meetings in my current role as an advocate for the DD Community in Cheyenne. I have to admit after reading the article “Transition to Adulthood” I was not aware of the complexity behind the transition. I had seen all of the components in play at the meetings I attend. I know attribute this fact that I did not full understand the or know the complete/correct definition of transition as it pertained to special needs students moving from the school system to their next phase in life. That phase can include but not be limited to be post education, employment, independent or supported living, and life in general in the main stream community.

The transition from high school to early adulthood for many students is a struggle. The transition is considerably more complicated for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (Swank & Huber, 2013). Swank and Huber (2013) continued by stating, these students face additional barriers as they transition to early adulthood due to the fact they may not qualify for other programs such as vocational rehabilitation once they have graduated to assist them in locating favorable employment. Gragoudas’ (2012) research found that students with disabilities may not have adequate skills for transitioning from high school life to post high school life. Lee and Carter (2012) found that many high functioning autistic youth’s academic and employment

During the Argosy Experience course, I was assigned the related task of comparing an entire week’s worth of planned events and obligations with how my time was actually spent. That previous scheduling project accustomed me to time management strategies and ultimately prepared me for this Module’s assignment.

I was fortunate to be able to observe academic education of nursing students at DeSales University. This education was held in a classroom setting on Mondays and Wednesdays. My observation time was 16 hours in which I observed Alyssa Robertson prepare for class, prepare exams, give lectures, provide hands on education, assist students in learning, and provide support to students. I also observed many student interactions and learning techniques. The learners were NU 220 Pharmacology and NU 230 Therapeutic Nursing Interventions students. NU 230 Therapeutic Nursing Interventions was held in the morning on Mondays and Wednesdays from 09:00-11:30 and NU 220 Pharmacology was held after from 12:00-3:30pm.

initiative for planning their own learning, seeking out the necessary resources, implementing and evaluating their own learning (tenant p10). The research by Tough prompted a multitude of research on the phenomenon. To date self-directed learning is one of the most widely researched area in the field of adult learning ( Owen , T Ross 2002).

The decision to return to school is a significant step for adult learners, particularly after a long absence from formal learning, and there are many factors in making that decision. Perhaps to develop or achieve professional goals, higher career status, professional security, or to personal goals, such as, seeking knowledge and new skills. As adult learners, they bring lived experiences and develop knowledge to the classroom, most are self-directed, goal oriented, therefore, have different ways in approaching learning and may require particular learning environments.