The First Weeks at University on Course Youth and Society - Essay Example

Youth and Society- Reflexive journal entries Week One (300 words) I made the choice for this course because I had a passion for working with children if not the youth. So I believed it would help me get a job as a teacher of children or person working with the youth. Besides I had already gotten tired with visual arts which I previously thought I had an interest in. I have a number of things that I don’t understand about digital narratives. I do not understand what kind of information is required in the narrative and how to pick the exact words that I need in order to communicate my mind. I also do not know how long the narrative needs to take since I sense I have a difficulty in how I can condense the story I have to fit into the required time. Shall I use words or images alone? My worry or concern over this assignment is the way I can choose the right images that should go with my story. Although I have some good skills on how to use the internet and social media I am not sure of how to upload my narrative to You Tube. The examples of the digital narratives given on the black board were good since they have helped me to have an exposure to various types of digital narratives. I have already started thinking of the digital narrative I will do and ideas have already started flowing. I am thinking of producing one about my own life and how I transitioned from high school to university Henderson et al (2007). My first week at university was exciting since I knew that I had come to study the course that would help me move into my desired profession. Everybody was new and this was the source of excitement. Week Two (300 words) My most critical moments were the very first weeks at university. The dilemma of choosing the right friends within the university so that I could lay the foundation for good performance in my course of choice needed my attention. I also faced some challenges in learning how to cope with student life and social life together with other responsibilities. Consequently I had to defer my studies for some time in order to take up employment. Actually the concepts behind late modern theory and risk society were clear enough that I got them well. Young people are very much in a hurry when making critical choices in life. Since they are not trained to weigh situations they fail to practice patience Rachel (2007).Personally I have been influenced a lot by structure in my choices. For example I have had to select my friends depending on class, gender and education. My choice for the university has been influenced by class. The cases studies in the text book carry the stories of young people in a transition crisis. They are making the wrong choices and obvious mistakes in transition which will definitely cost them when they are adults. Similarities exist between my transition story and those of others in the group. Since all of us are youth we have had almost the same experiences. Their stories taught me how to listen to advice and focus on my dreams. Most of these stories converge at critical times like choice of friends, joining campus, love relationships and early pregnancies and crises in the family among others Rachel (2007). These can also be identified in the text book and the examples given on the black board. The previous semesters had very good digital narratives since they were revolving about the issues of youth. Week Three (300 words) Physical mobility has been there in my life especially when I move from campus to my parent’s home and back. I have also travelled a lot internationally before I settled down to study. Social mobility has taken place since along the way I have had to change friends with changing times. Emotional mobility has allowed me to mature in my patterns of behavior since I do not reason the same way I did at admission to university. Cultural mobility also caught up with me since I have had to adopt other cultures due to influence from other students. The place of growth determined the environment and kind of people I had to interact with, the school and other social places I went to which eventually contributed to the person I am today. Talking about mobility I have had to embrace cosmopolitanism since I have a tendency to embrace and interact with various cultures. I have travelled internationally and visited many parts of the USA, Sweden, France Italy and Germany. I am a leaver and not a stayer since I have moved a lot and changed activities often. I am detached because I am not the type that does one thing for all the time. Mobility is still linked to class because only those who come from the middleclass and stay in leafy suburbs have the privilege of travelling around or becoming tourists before they settle down to study at the university. The gap year is therefore still reserved for those who are privileged especially in the economic aspect. Since Griffith University is situated in an urban environment compared to the rural area a person from the rural areas is definitely gripped with the ‘getting on feeling’ and the ‘out of the country’ feeling as well. Week Four (300 words) In my biography I have a belonging to race, student groups with whom we interact and the family back at home. A sense of belonging is very necessary in transition for the youth because it shapes their behaviour, self esteem and self worth. It gives them confidence and determination which are necessary for making responsible adults. When youths feel recognized and acknowledged then their transition is without many problems. Not belonging creates a feeling of rejection which makes some youth develop character and emotional problems such as sexual immorality and drugs in order to seek for identity. In the youth of the day with me included there is evidence of increasing secularization and intergenerational decline. The generation of my parents and grand parents had a higher level of religiosity which is absent today. I am not politically apathetic since I have a keen interest in politics it get very fascinated with politicians. The political sphere gives me the role models who in one way or another shape the events taking place in my life. Religion is not the new politics since I do not substitute politics with religion. The two are distinct. Since I belong to the middle class I can confess that individualization has taken place in my life. The reason is that I have been trained to make independent decisions for my self in many ways. Such include studying, taking or leaving employment among others. I have also had problems with dis-embedding losing security and re embedding because of not following traditional lifestyles and the society in general. God’s next army is very important in helping the young people to overcome transition problems. It makes youths disciplined and godly. Training the youth to be devout Christians prevents them from transition dilemmas like drinking and rebellion. Week Five (300 words) I have begun working on my digital narrative. I find it interesting since it is an opportunity to interact with other students and share ideas on how to do it. I have also found an opportunity to read about other case studies in the book and compare them to my own transition story. I have found the case studies very relevant to my situation at one time or another in life. The stories also reflect on the lives of some of the people I have met or interacted with. It is interesting to note that transition is real and crucial but very delicate. The creation of the digital narrative brings to me a new experience of learning something new. It is helping me to come to terms with the fact that transition is not a trivial matter and that it must be handled with utmost care Henderson & Holland et al (2007). I therefore would like to do my best on the narrative so that my story of transition can come out the best. This will not only show my hard work but also allow other people to interact with me through the digital narrative. They can be able to learn a lesson or two about my experience with work, school and my journeys around the world. I am also happy because the digital narrative will help me to reveal to others what type of person I am and what I am not just by watching the narrative. Working on my digital narrative has also made me to love the course because as I understand the issues that young people go through I am getting the skills that I will put to use when I finish my studies and begin working with the children and youth. I identify with other youths in their narratives. Week Six (300 words) I have now taken substantial steps in the creation of the digital narrative. I have found it very challenging to have to recollect all the details of my story, put it together and condense it in a manner that it can fit in the less than 4 minutes digital narrative. I have found out that the experiences in my life have been very educative Thomson, (2007). Some of the experiences were bitter at that time but today I rejoice over them. I’m also tending to like the decisions I made in those days although some of them were rashy. Looking at the experiences that other students have passed through together with what I read in the case studies in the book ‘Inventing adulthoods’ I find myself very lucky. This is because the bad things that these other young people have passed through did not befall me. However I have found a challenge of what I can put in my digital narrative and what I cannot. Some experiences in my transition were nasty and I wouldn’t like other people to know about them. I would rather forget about them because I believe they would in one way or another remind me of my failures in the past. Discussions with other students though, are proving to be helpful in the area of deciding what to include in my narrative. Some of the students are very much able to comprehend issues and are helping their colleagues to go about the assignment. The input of our tutor and the notes given are also proving to be very helpful. I am looking forward to completing my digital narrative because I believe the perspective I have for my transition in life is changing drastically. I believe my digital narrative will be very interesting. Week Seven (300 words) I am almost through with compiling the details of my narrative. Now the technology aspect is what I have to embark on. I have some skills on how to put in the images but I am also faced with the dilemma of which images to use. I want to include the best images which will help me to convey the message with absolute clarity. I have already decided on what details to include in the digital narrative. I believe because I like representing myself openly I should try to use the best experiences I have had as well as the bad ones Thomson, (2007). This combination will help the other people to have a full picture of what my transition has been like. I am not ashamed of my past through because I know some body will be able to learn from my mistakes as well as my good times and choices made during those times. I now have to go a head and get the skills that a lack especially in the making of the final stages of the digital narrative. I am happy because of the success I have made so far on the this activity. What remains now is for me to try to understand how I can apply the skills I have obtained in this assignment to my work when I finish my studies and join the workforce Thomson, (2007). The tutor has already given us some materials to help us in completing the assignment to the point of uploading the digital narrative on You Tube. I already have these stages and I believe that this final process will not be a headache for me. As this week ends I will definitely go to the internet and upload my completed digital narrative. Week Eight (300 words) I have completed everything and even uploaded my digital narrative on You Tube. Actually the experience has been very thrilling. The steps given by the tutor in the lecture notes for uploading the digital narrative on You Tube were not as hard as I thought they could be. They were easy to follow and so I managed to complete my task. I have also had an opportunity to look at the digital narratives done by my friends and others done by former students. I have found out that according to my personal judgment my job is fine. I like what I have done especially the images I chose because they seem to display the message very well. My friends have also confirmed that my work is good and that the transition I want people to see is coming out clearly. The whole exercise of making the digital narrative has given me a lot of exposure on the issues of transition. I have gained knowledge on how to recollect the details of my past life in a video kind of narrative and also to keep them in a journal. These skills will be very useful to me in my career. I have gained skills on how to use the technology of social media to share my life experiences with other people and I believe this is very important. My digital narrative will be available as well to other students who will take the same course I am talking after me and in years to come. It is my joy that they will use my narrative as guidance for their own assignments Henderson & Holland et al (2007). Finally, I wish to thank all that have been of help in the digital narrative assignment such as my tutor and fellow students. Bibliography Henderson, S., Holland, J., Mc Grellis, S., Sharpe, S. and Thomson, R. 2007, Inventing Adulthoods: A Biographical Approach to Youth Transitions, Sage Publishers, London. Rachel 2007, Inventing Adulthoods: A Biographical Approach to Youth Transitions, Sage, London. Thomson, R. 2007, ‘A biographical perspective’, in Mary Jane Kehily (ed.) Understanding Youth: Perspectives, Identities and Practices, Sage, London. Read More