Life Cycle

After reading’s Nelson’s paper  “Rites of Passage in Emerging Adulthood: Perspectives of Young Mormons” I felt a need to write personally on this topic as I have a friend who I grew up with who is Mormon. She was the oldest of seven children, and her mother was so young (20 when she had her) that now they almost look alike. That girl has just become a wife and mother herself — and I remember thinking that her life was over before it had even begun! I could not believe that she would be content preparing all her life, going to school, obeying her parents, only to drop out of school halfway through to become a mother and start the whole family duty circle again. She’s spending her emerging adulthood as an adult, or according to Henig’s article she simply skipped EA.

Nelson writes: “One of the most notable features of emerging adulthood is the opportunity it provides for identity explorations in the areas of love, work, and world views.” It seems sad to think of so many people who don’t get to experience their twenties freely and therefore do not get to see themselves become their own people, simply because they are following age-old rules and obeying their faith.

That said, she seems genuinely happy and I guess that truly is all that matters. Arum and Roksa write that grades are an effective was of evaluating a students progress. I could not disagree more. Maybe it’s because I go to film school and what really matters is the quality and the passion put into your work rather than if you satisfied some professor’s personal taste. I think grades are useful to the extent of reflecting the true level of understanding a student has reached in a classroom when they take a test, but I don’t think grades themselves should be the motivating factor in any young learner’s life, we should find a way to engage and motivate students without the alternative to learning