Considering the Present

Considering the Present
Kanina Rollerson
Ashford University: PSY 202
August 31, 2014

The first event that I choose was graduating high school. The reason I choose this event and experience is because no one in my family had ever graduated high school. My mother, father, nor my brother ever got a high school education. Although, my mother and father never married I can remember them both saying that they didn’t finish high school. My father got a GED but my mother still to this day doesn’t have either a high school diploma or GED. My brother just quit school at the age of 17 and took to the streets. So this was very important ordeal for me. I can also remember other family members say that I wasn’t going to graduate high school or I would come up pregnant while in high school because my circumstances was different than everyone in the family. I proved them all wrong and graduated high school without becoming pregnant and most of the one’s that was downing me their kids ended up pregnant in high school and didn’t graduate high school. The second experience I choose from my list was joining the Army when I graduated high school. The reason I choose this experience was because after I graduated high school I felt like I still had something that I had to prove to others. Just because my surroundings and environment was different from others doesn’t mean that I was going to succumb to my environment or surroundings. While in the Army I learned discipline, respect and courage. I got to see many places that some people will never get to see. You can’t judge a book by its cover unless you open the book up and read the entire story and then just maybe then you will understand someone’s life story. Urie Bronfenbrenner proposed a theory of ecological systems, which focuses on broad, interconnected influences on human development. (Mossler, 2013, Chapter 2, Section 2.6, Paragraph 1). The microsystem refers to the daily environment. (Mossler, 2013, Chapter 2, Section 2.6, Paragraph 2). When choosing these events/experiences from last week’s brainstorming activity and how Bronfenbrenner’s rings influenced my first experience on graduating high school. I would have to say the microsystem because of the environment that I grew up in and the fact that no one else around the neighborhood or family had graduated high school and this was such a big event and experience for me being the first to graduate high school. Considering that my mother was most of the time away from home doing her on thing it was like I was left to raise myself at the time until my dad took me away from her. So my upbringing and environment made me want to do better for myself and for my future. Today I can say that I beat all the odds that were stacked up against me. Bronfenbrenner’s rings again lines up with my second experience/event in my life was joining the United States Army after high school. I would have to say that this event as well lines up with the microsystem because of the environment that I grew up in and around. If it hadn’t been from the environment that I grew up in and around I don’t think that I would be half the person that I am today especially when it comes to raising my own children. This experience gave me a totally different outlook on life. I knew for a fact that once I graduated high school that there was no turning back or looking back to the environment that I came from. Learning from these experiences reinforced behaviors that are evident in my adulthood today is the fact that I am pushing my kids to graduate high school but to not only graduate high school but to continue on with college. For example, my 15 year old daughter that is in high school now I am talking GPA to her because I was never told or knew how important that my GPA was in high school. Back then all I wanted to do was graduate high school I didn’t care about GPA or how important it was because no one ever told me. But today I know how important GPA is. Learning from my military experience I can see some reinforced behaviors that I carried over into my adulthood life. I am a very disciplined person and I am making my children disciplined as well as respectful children so that when they do get older that they will know what it takes to function out in the world when I am no longer around. I still today have people say I can tell that you have been to the military or something because of the way you have your kids disciplined and respectful. The impact that these experiences has on my online learning is as long as I stay disciplined and stick to my game plan of time management I will be successful with this experience at online learning as well. I know what I want and I know what it takes to achieve it and accomplish it. Online learning isn’t so bad this time around it has gotten a lot easier for me this time because I wasn’t managing my time wisely the first time but I still didn’t give up and managed to get the degree.

References Mossler, R. (2013) Adult Developing and Learning. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.

References: Mossler, R. (2013) Adult Developing and Learning. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.