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6. Emerging and Evolving Identities as Successful Students
- University of Arizona Press
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124 6 Emerging and Evolving Identities as Successful Students the camp students changed and continued to change. But in what ways? I interviewed each student at approximately the same time throughout the academic year, and then one last time four or five months after the end of the CAMP program year. In each interview there was always a hint of change in their voices, their use of words, and their demeanors. Their words—their stories of experiences in learning and change—seemed to be evolving and accumulating new understandings as they continued on their student trajectory at different moments, after certain events, throughout the year. Their changes began in their key interactions with guest speakers, in the learning community courses, in Adventure Learning, the day they received the CAMP scholarship. Their changes began in struggles and success. Their changes began in getting good grades and bad. And with these changes came changing identities. Since identities are not merely an internalization of an understanding of the self-concept but are also a projection of oneself (Holland et al., 1998), this chapter provides the observations and perspectives of those who were also privy to the change and development they saw in the students—Lisa (CAMP coordinator) and three instructors , James (psychology instructor), William (English instructor), and Jane (math instructor). Along with my own analysis of what the Emerging and Evolving Identities 125 students said and did based on interviews and field notes, the other perspectives provide a triangulation of data to present whether, indeed , the students projected any sense of evolving or emerging identities as successful students. Laura: “I feel like I can do anything” After having had Laura earlier in the year in his English class, then in a later class, an English instructor, William, noticed quite a change in her personality and the overall way she presented herself. He noted that a change in her confidence was needed for her to feel more comfortable and confident, so that she could successfully navigate college work and culture. She’s a changed person. She finishes a sentence. She sits up and speaks in a perfectly normal voice without hesitation; she has become more comfortable being here, being in college, and probably being in an English class too. It’s a major transformation that I’ve seen with her. Obviously, this term has just started, so I don’t know what her work is going to be like. But just the personality that she brings to the classroom, it’s a whole transformation, she’s a different person. And that’s something that needed to happen. She probably realized that first of all she needs to be able to stand up and be herself in order to survive here, but also I think she’s realized that this isn’t such a scary place after all, and she’s become more used to it and aware of what it can do for her. It’s somewhat speculation, obviously, but the transformation just that I can see in her is amazing. From William’s perspective, Laura went through a dramatic change during the year. She presented a new sense of self that was reflected in her participation in the classroom. This aspect of her personality now was an integral part of her ways of engaging in and communicating with the outside world, including school. William felt that Laura learned to adopt a new sensibility of self and way of being as a student in order to maintain her trajectory in being and becoming an identity of a student working hard and trying to succeed. [3.145.156.46] Project MUSE (2024-04-18 00:06 GMT) 126 LEARNING THE POSSIBLE Lisa noted, “When she first came, you couldn’t even hear her talk in the interview. We’d ask her a question, she would answer, and it was so low and she’d barely open her mouth so that you could barely understand her. Then, to have her come in my office and make a joke, or stand there and laugh with the other kids, that’s incredible . . . for her to ask for help and say, What do I need to do for this, etc.” Building on what William saw in Laura, Lisa also saw her transformation of personality and ways of expressing herself. Lisa saw significant change in how Laura participated in the CAMP program and college community, exhibiting more confidence in her ability to dialogue and interact with others. From Lisa’s...