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Josue Orellana

Professor Jennifer Rodrick

English 115

15 October 2017

College: A Keystone Space in the Development of Identity

What is one of the first places that people start to greatly develop their own identities?

For many people, school is the first space where they start to develop themselves in terms of

their own identity and grasp the implications of social and cultural norms. For those that decide

to go to college, their time in these institutions is one of the most influential periods of their

lives. Not only does it mark the beginning of the adult stage of life for many people, but it also

exposes them to a whole new community of learning and helps them develop socially. It is not

only the next step for many young adults, it is a community that greatly affects a students

identity. Studies conducted by John Foubert, Flor Kagar, Ernest Pascarella and others help draw

correlations between the development of identity and different aspects of college. College is a

community and part of society that can positively affects students identities by giving them

ways to express themselves through clubs and organizations, helps introduce them to critical

thinking through their studies, and further teaches about different types of diversity, such as

cultural diversity, which are all important for establishing an identity.

College is a community of students that allows for pupils to express themselves through

the different clubs and organizations their college has to offer. By joining clubs and

organizations, students become a part of communities that are significant to their sense of

identity. These organizations are for all types of individuals such as people with faiths, people

with an interest in a recreational hobby, or for minorities who want to group together. Overall,
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organizations provide communities for different types of people who share a similar goal. All

these groups provide a place for people to come together and build upon their sense of identity,

allowing themselves to psychologically develop. A study done at a midsized public university

gathered data from students over the course of four years, tracking their progress from freshman

to senior year. The aim of the study was to see if any relationship arose between joining clubs

and psychosocial growth. The study found that involvement in student organizations has a

strong association with psychosocial development, particularly on students establishing and

clarifying purpose, educational involvement, career planning, life management, and cultural

participation (Foubert and Grainger 180). This study found a strong correlation between being

in a club and the development of identity through forming purpose and life goals. The study

shows that clubs and organizations create an environment that fostered the expansion of identity.

By being in a club a student is more likely to find their purpose and identity compared to a

student who does not participate in a club. Additionally, it is evident that students who are

involved in clubs and organizations during their college experience are also those who

demonstrate higher levels of development in many areas (Foubert and Grainger 180).

Involvement in a club assists in the improvement of the long term well-being of a person.

Overall, given any college there will be hundreds of clubs and organizations which are small

communities that help develop students identities by giving them a place to develop their

identity by being surrounded with other students who have a common interest. In addition to the

sense of identity formed by clubs and organizations, which connect the students in ways that no

other community can, critical thinking also helps students develop their identity.

College also positively affects peoples identities by helping students to develop critical

thinking skills which are an important aspect of developing a good sense of identity. College is a
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place where students are treated like adults and expected to think at a higher level and are

expected to critically think. Critical thinking is an active process in which a person intellectually

analyzes and reflects upon information in order to form logical and rational conclusions which

then create better actions. Ben Powers makes it clear in his YouTube video why critical thinking

is so important. He states that all the choices we make are limited by what we know so the more

we know the more we can make decisions that will get us the outcomes that we want. He

explains that critical thinking is the way to process information so that we have the right

knowledge to make the best choices in our lives. Critical thinking occurs in all types of setting at

a college, from logically deciding how to approach a complicated math problem to critiquing a

work of art with examples and reasoning. Critical thinking is a valuable skill and is important for

the growth of identity. A study done at the Islamic Azad University shows how critical thinking

can shape students identity and general mental health. A random selection of students from a

school in Tehran were put in a critical thinking session and given multiple tests to see any

difference in critical thinking skills would happen. Their findings showed that creative and

critical thinking skills teaching in students can increase informational identity style, commitment

of identity, and general health (Kargar et al. 467). Furthermore, the results of the study indicate

that after the thinking skills teaching program, the students in the experimental group had an

increase in informational identity style and commitment of identity, while had a decrease in

diffuse/avoidance identity style (Kagar et al. 468). Their results showed that students with

critical thinking skills had better cognitive abilities and better mental health, which lead to a

better state of identity. With critical thinking skills students are able to express their ideas and

reasoning and show more of their personality. Students can form a more developed and nuanced

sense of identity through the development of critical thinking skills provided by a school.
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College specifically has shown to develop critical thinking skills better than any other occupation

in a young adult's life. A study from the University of Illinois shows that the freshman year of

college significantly enhances the critical thinking of individuals over and above the gains which

could be typically expected had these same individuals decided not to attend college the first

year after high school graduation (Pascarella 16) and that college has a discernible, positive

influence on the development of critical thinking (Pascarella 16). The studies of Kagar and

Pascarella show that college leads to development of critical thinking skills, which in turn, has

shown to lead to a better developed sense of identity. Although other activities can also improve

a persons critical thinking skills, college provides more progress towards developing this than

other activities. In addition to the valuable effects of critical thinking, which provide a style of

thinking to help the healthy development of identity to flourish, the diversity on colleges also

have a positive influence on identity.

College is a space where students learn more about the world and gain valuable

experiences in diversity, which ultimately help create a better identity. Cultural diversity itself is

very important for developing an identity that will be able to establish itself in our modern

society. Michael Gavin, an associate Professor of human dimensions of natural resources, argues

that cultural diversity is an extremely important part of our society. In a Tedx talk he says that

diversity means thousands of different ways of seeing the world and our place in it (Gavin). He

is trying to make the point that diversity leads to a greater understanding between all different

types of people. He is saying that cultural diversity can guide people to gaining the different

knowledge of thousands of cultures. This type of knowledge is what helps people to create a

better identity for themselves as they try to figure out who they are. Cultural diversity is

important and colleges provide a place for people to experience these different cultures. A study
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was conducted at two universities in Southern California that focused on the effects of diverse

campuses on students ethnic identity formation. The study found that By engaging in

significant ways with other-ethnic peers, students developed multicultural competence and

confidence in their abilities to successfully negotiate cross-ethnic relationships. Through these

interactions students challenged and changed their beliefs about difference, prejudice, and

discrimination (Ortiz et. al. 112). Additionally, Students from other ethnic groups also had

positive effects on students' ethnic identity formation and served as role models in the ethnic

identity development process (Ortiz et. al. 112). It was found that diversity on campus in

college led to a greater understanding of other cultures and helped the students themselves

develop better ethnic identities as they spent more and more time interacting with other ethnic

identities. By simply being in a space that contains many different cultures and types of people,

individuals find their prejudices challenged. Their identities rework themselves to become more

inclusive and less discriminating against different people. The ability to navigate in an

increasingly multicultural society has a profound and positive impact on a students identity and

positively shapes different aspects of themself.

Ultimately college is a close-knit community of people where everyone can greatly

benefit from the unique space created by a center of learning. Although no two colleges are alike

they all share the goal of helping people learn, gain knowledge and develop a better identity.

Colleges provide one of the best places to join organizations that help drive passion for activities

and movements even further. They also are one of the best places to develop critical thinking

skills which are important in all aspects of life. Colleges also provides a center of cultural

diversity for people to immerse themselves in and expand their knowledge of the world and
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society as a whole. As a result, colleges will always be an integral part of identity for students

and even alumni alike as they advance through their lives.

Works Cited

Foubert, John D. and Lauren U. Grainger. Effects of Involvement in Clubs and Organizations on the

Psychosocial Development of First-Year and Senior College Students NASPA Journal, vol.43,

no. 1, Jan. 2006, p.180, ResearchGate, doi: 10.2202/1949-6605.1576. Accessed 16 Oct. 2017.

Gavin, Michael. Why Cultural Diversity Matters Youtube, uploaded by TEDx Talks, 7 Nov. 2014,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48RoRi0ddRU. Accessed 17 Oct. 2017.

Kargar, Flor R., et al. Effect of Creative and Critical Thinking Skills Teaching on Identity Styles and

General Health in Adolescents Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 84, 9 July

2013, pp. 467-468, ScienceDirect, doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.585. Accessed 16 Oct. 2017.

Ortiz, Anna M., et.al. The Relationship Between Campus Diversity, Students Ethnic Identity and

College Adjustment: A Qualitative Study Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology,

vol. 13, no. 2, 2007, p. 112, APA PsycNet, doi: 10.1037/1099-9809.13.2.104. Accessed 18 Oct.

2017.

Pascarella, Ernest T. The Development of Critical Thinking: Does College Make a Difference?

Journal of College Student Development, 21 Nov. 1989, p. 16, PsycInfo,

files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED292417.pdf. Accessed 15 Oct. 2017.

Powers, Ben. Why is Critical Thinking so Important Youtube, uploaded by Ben Powers, 1 Oct. 2012,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmgmgrwpIP4. Accessed 17 Oct. 2017.