Page 451 - Understanding Psychology

Stress in Your Life
Reader’s Guide
Exploring Psychology
Are You Ready for Independence?
I thought when I was a senior [in high school] that I was really independent. You know what I mean: I kept my own sched- ule, had a job and car, decided when I needed to do homework or not. But you and Dad were always there to back me up. If I didn’t know how to do something, I could walk into the kitchen and ask you. Now I have to figure everything out by myself. That’s independence.
—from Almost Grown: Launching Your Child From High School to College by Patricia Pasick, 1998
s Main Idea
For many people, college and work involve adjustment and stress.
s Vocabulary
• autonomy
• developmental friendship
• resynthesis
• career
• comparable worth
s Objectives
• Identify some of the issues related to
adjustment to college life.
• Describe issues related to starting a
first job.
The quotation above is what a first-year college student at Tufts University told his mother during parents’ weekend. Families do not stay together forever. Children grow up and leave home to set up new households and start their own families. This period of life signi- fies a major life change for both teens and parents. This life change involves dealing with stress.
Growing up involves gaining a sense of autonomy—the ability to take care of oneself—and independence. Each person learns to make decisions, develop a value system, be responsible, and to care for himself or herself. Growing up is a process that starts long before an individual leaves home to live as a self-sufficient adult. Yet ultimately, it means sep- arating from the family, both physically and emotionally.
CHOOSING COLLEGE
For millions of young Americans, college is one of the first big steps toward this separation. As college students individuals are freer than they ever have been or may ever be again. This can be a personally liberating
autonomy: ability to take care of oneself and make one’s own decisions
Chapter 15 / Stress and Health 437