Considering the Present

Considering the Present

Darcy Smittenaar

PSY202 Adult Development and Life Assessment

Diana Donovan

November 30, 2013

Considering the Present

Out of the five positive events I wrote about last week, the first one I chose was renting my own apartment, because it is one of the most positive out of the five events I had brainstormed.  I am also more able to remember details, because it is a recent occurrence.

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s rings, and his Ecological Systems Theory explains “development in terms of the interaction between individuals and the environments in which they live” (Mossler, 2013, Chapter 2, “Perspectives on Adult Development”).  I was living alone for the first time in my life, so essentially, I was taking myself out of some negative interactions with other individuals, and creating my own living environment.

In making this change, I was able to work better within my own microsystem; having my family at one remove made me happier, because I was not constantly fighting with people I love over petty and insignificant details.  I was also better able to concentrate on my school work, and received my Associate’s Degree while I was living by myself.  I have not really known my neighbors—in any neighborhood—for many years, and I do not really follow mass media.  I have not yet had need of either legal or social services either, so moving into my own apartment did not change my exosystem very much at all.

It is the macrosystem of my life that was most affected by my move.  When I moved, I felt I had the room to think the way I wanted to think, to build my own opinions—or non-opinions about any issues that might come up, and to begin to piece together my own belief system, even if it turned out to be different from my family’s.

I moved into my own apartment only a year ago, so at age twenty-nine, I was technically already well into adulthood when this event occurred.  However, this experience helped me to regulate my behavior when it came to eating, finances and personal responsibility for chores.  I was also better able to concentrate in online learning, since the only distractions in the apartment were the ones I created or the ones by which I allowed myself to be distracted.

The other positive event I chose to write about was visiting the Netherlands for the first time, which I chose because, like moving into my own place, it was one of the most recent events, and therefore, one of the most memorable.  I also felt that it was the most positive experience I had listed, and that I could write about it in detail.

My grandmother, who was born and raised in The Hague, Netherlands, encouraged me to make this trip to see the country of her birth.  She also helped me to choose some places within the country that would be interesting to see while I was there.  She was originally going to go with me, but decided that she was unable to travel, due to problems with her joints.  Grandma’s influence on my vacation two years ago illustrates Bronfenbrenner’s theory that “psychologists need to look at family, culture, community, and the influences of the era in which people live in order to understand the circumstances surrounding individual growth” (Mossler, 2013, Chapter 2, “Perspectives on Adult Development”); because the Netherlands is part of my family heritage, I wanted to see and experience the culture for myself, and my grandmother—the family from whom I inherited my Dutch genes—helped me to do that.

Since I took this trip two years ago, I was already twenty-eight years old, but I had been trying to visit the Netherlands since I was old enough to understand what countries were—in other words, since I was a toddler.  I persevered, and finally, I was able to achieve that goal, and I know that I will be able to do so again, because taking the vacation was the reinforcement which rewarded that perseverance, and I want to feel that sense of accomplishment again.  I also want to feel the awe and inspiration of seeing new places, doing new things and meeting new people again.

Since I am studying Applied Linguistics in my online learning, actually having been to a country where a language other than English is normally spoken is probably a plus, and I hope to go to many other countries in the future.

 

References

Mossler, R. (2013). Adult Development and Learning. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu