Moving To College

A sudden change in one’s surroundings can result in culture shock. Culture shock refers to the anxiety and surprise a person feels when he or she is discontented with an unfamiliar setting. The majority of practices or customs are different from what a person is used to. One may experience withdrawal, homesickness, or a desire for old friends. For example, when a person goes to live in a different place with unfamiliar surroundings, they may experience culture shock. Sometimes it is the result of losing their identity. In the article “The Phases of Culture Shock”, Pamela J. Brink and Judith Saunders describe four phases of culture shock. They are: Honeymoon Phase, Disenchantment Phase, Beginning Resolution Phase, and Effective

Cultural shock is a common feeling a person experiences when transitioning into a completely different environment and living situation. Throughout the world, immigrants experience many difficulties when assimilating into a new culture.

People will often tell you that they want to be rich or famous when they grow older, how will that be possible without the proper education and schooling? Many people dream of being an entrepreneur or a lawyer and they believe that it is possible to be one of those things out of thin air. It’s not. Often times most businesses want to see a degree or a diploma to even consider you for a job. However, there are many advantages of attending college. The advantages of attending college is never ending but can include incessant opportunities.

Culture shock is the feelings of alienation, hostility, heightened ethnocentrism, sense of loss, depression and/or self doubt that may result from immersion in a new culture.

Pederson (7) explains that there are stages of culture shock, which he identifies as the honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment, and adaptation. In the honeymoon phase, a person is likely to get excited about being in a new place, meeting new people, tasting new foods, and acquiring new habits. However, as time passes by, they get into a phase of negotiation, where the differences between the culture one is used to and the one they find themselves in start to become apparent. Feelings of anxiety, anger, and frustrations start to take shape as unfavorable events perceived as strange come in the way of the person 's life, especially if a person does not feel accepted in the new culture (Mukherjee 273). Loneliness may set in, and the urge to go back to the familiar culture strongly comes into play. However, as time goes by, adjustment sets in, usually within six to twelve months, and one gets accustomed to the culture and also comes up with a routine. By this phase, one knows what is expected of them, and life once again becomes ‘normal.’

Life is full of decisions, which are both easy and hard. My parents' stories of escaping persecution from a

Due to the continuing increase of living it’s nearly impossible to be able to live alone. Since the demand of a higher education for better paying jobs is at an all time high trying to juggle a full-time job and returning to college is more than difficult at times. Frank, a full-time employee decided that he’d better himself by returning to college. Never considering that times have changed, he still continued to work and go to school. He stretched himself to the max; he worked late hours and then stayed up doing homework until the early morning only to have to get up and return to class to repeat the long days over. Several weeks passed, he realized that he was never going to be able to get ahead to matter how hard to tried. He was very aware that if he stopped taking classes his chances of being something in the world were even slimmer than if he continued and somehow managed to do both. Frank decided that no matter how tough these next few months were going to be he wasn’t going to let it stop him from meeting his goals.

Culture shock is influenced by ethnocentrism, which I will explain how it is taking one’s culture as a superior base to judge other cultures. The longer I lived in Louisiana, the concept cultural relativism began to apply to my situation when I befriended a girl that had lived in that town from birth, and it gave me a new perception on cultural differences. Culture shock is a two way street after all, they were affected by my outside presence- especially at times where they needed to forgive my adjustment of catering to their norms. The non-material culture I can list as an example would be a moral holiday celebrated highly in the south, Mardi Gras. Having parades march through my street for seven days with floats, jazz musicians, horses, and people in costumes throwing out beaded necklaces- was quite a celebration that traced back historically and

On move-in day your Freshman year, you were of course excited and Dad and I shared that excitement. We set up your dorm, carefully placing every item, making sure the beds matched and decorating to show your style. We carefully looked at your schedule for recruitment week so you’d know just which clothes to get ready. We made one last Wal-Mart run, with everyone else in College Station, to be sure you were well-stocked with supplies. Then it was time to leave you. This time, it was Dad who was emotional. He was leaving his little girl, by herself, in a world of young men and women that you, and he, didn’t know. But I wasn’t worried, not this time. I knew you were okay – you were a fierce individualist who knew that you valued education, persistence, loyal friends, and kindness. Aggieland was just the place for you, and when we left you on those stairs of Wells Hall, I hugged you goodbye, confident that you would be

1. Culture shock- The disorientation that people experience when they come in contact with a fundamentally different culture and can no longer depend on their taken for granted assumptions about life. Pg. 35

For better or worse, for richer or poorer. I was married to my dream because I thought about it day and night. I imaged what it would feel like to walk across the stage and receive my college degree. This dream empowered me and kept me focused on what I needed to do and make it occur. I made an agreement with myself to finish college to finish what I started. I felt like something was incomplete in my life regarding college and college graduation. My eldest brother Willie introduced me to Christ at the age of eleven. He expressed to me that life’s journey did not have to be tackled alone I have a helper, therefore whatever came my way I know I could go to the helper for direction. I requested the helper provide insight in relation to this

Do you wonder if you’ve improved from the transition from high school to college? I know I sure have. When I was in junior high, I was the shy quiet type of person. During high school I started talking to people more and more thanks to a special friend, but in high school I had nobody to give me encouragement. I did not care; I was not planning to go to college, and I made lots of other excuses. But now that I'm in college I feel I have accomplished so much thanks to the nice, kind, and generous people I have met. My transition from high school to college has turned my life around.

Lately, it seems, parents are getting more and more involved in their children's daily lives. A parents constant involvement in their child's lives can be a good thing, when their child is still a child and not so much after they have grown up. A new trend has sprung where parents feel it necessary to ,not only, take their child to college but to stay there with them.

It is the dream of everyone to join college with the hope of getting a better tomorrow and a foundation for them to make it in life. However, this may not be the case with some students as this dream may turn into a nightmare. This is because many students fail to go through or others even fail simply because they have not prepared enough; not just academically but also on the personal side.

Culture Shock has played a tremendous role in the growth of cultural ecology because it is an issue that is constantly growing all over the world. In the United States, it may not seem like things are changing involving culture shock, but it is not any different then the changes in places like Africa and China for example. It is developing equally across the world because there are now more ways to travel. So, what exactly is culture shock anyways? Well, it is known as going to a foreign or unfamiliar territory that one is not used to, so they may feel symptoms of anxiety such as nervousness or shock because the customs, actions, beliefs, etc of those people may not seem familiar to them, so one may feel ill-prepared for the changing environment. Also, for example, if one was to go to school in the U.S. but came from China, they would feel culture shock because the rules in China are not the same as rules in the U.S. and so it may make one feel uneasy about the situation because they are not use to change and maybe the move was to quick for them to adjust properly. The United States is very different from foreign areas because the culture is very different. Where have people of Africa seen movie productions, music, sports, universities, iPhones, computers, etc? The answer is not where they live but in the United States if they traveled there before. This is exactly the issue with culture shock in ecology. Culture is what people behave like, feel, and do. Shock is a symptom