Becca Dankovich

Using a historical perspective would be helpful for my group’s research. The process of students transitioning from college to career has been around for a very long time, therefore it is not a new topic of interest. Our group is interested in how different students with different majors develop a career from their major, and the other changes that go along with this transition. The historical perspective can help us discover how students have transitioned over time and if it has become easier or more difficult. This perspective also may help to show us how majors may have developed over time; possibly more work and more opportunities. Looking at this transition over a period of time may help us understand our research question more. 

http://www.library.illinois.edu/archives/archon/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=610&q=career+development

I think that my writing throughout this semester has dramatically changed. I never had a way with words, but writing has become much easier for me than it was before. I think that I have developed a “style” of how I write. I still am not the biggest fan of writing. However, I am able to appreciate it more now because I am gradually developing into a better writer. I have also found that as my writing has developed, so has my vocabulary. I never really thought of myself having an “intellectual” vocabulary, but as I write more and progress, I have come to realize that I do. 

Continuing on with our secondary source research, I read an article entitled “Transitioning into a Major: Academic Intervention Course.” However, the article really had nothing to do with college students taking their major and creating a career out of it. It was instead about having prep courses in high school that prepare students for the major that they wish to pursue; in this case business. 

These course are supposed to ease the transition into college and give them some knowledge of what they are about to study before they begin. Some courses prepare the students for getting higher scores on standardized tests, which in turn, will increase the likelihood that they will be admitted. Some college-concurrent courses are used as a training experience to enhance a student’s academic skills and learn to cooperate with the faculty better. Some courses educate the students in careers and career planning.

The article then introduced an experiment where they tested 361 students enrolled in a course that was designed to assist students into a business major. These students learned about the curriculum, how to use the career center, and how to get into co-curricular activities. The article presents all of the mandatory information an experiment needs. The results showed that the course really did well in preparing the students for the business major. Many of the students in the course gained a greater outcome of their experience.

This article is somewhat important to my research because it could be important to show that students who take they preparation courses for their major have a more positive outcome in their college experience and finding a career after they have graduated.

In preparation to begin research on the topic of students and their major, our group came up with a question on how we wish to approach this topic. We discovered that we are interested in how students take their major and turn it into their career. Upon searching the database for articles that may provide valuable information, I found an article entitled “Career Transitions of College Seniors,” by Eunjoo Yang and Norman C. Gysbers. Based on the title, I chose the article because it seemed relevant to what I am researching. 

The article began by saying how important and stressful the task of searching for a career is to a college student. As I continued to read, the article began to discuss research that related psychological distress to career search. This was not what I had in mind, however the correlation may be important to note and the article was found using a psychology database. The research conducted suggested that “career search self-efficacy and psychological distress are closely related to how individuals handle career search tasks, but the two are independent of each other.” This section of the article was somewhat difficult to interpret because I am not comfortable with psychology jargon.

The article then moved on to discuss two aspects of college students’ perceptions of career transitions, which included strength and direction. A concept by Heppner identified that there are five psychological resources- readiness, confidence, control, support, and decision independence. It stated that students with greater psychological resources experienced less stress and better progress in career transitions.

Then, the article moved onto a method for an experiment that based on the information the article presented before. It provided all of the necessary information that needs to be noted during an experiment, including participants, instruments, procedure, statistical analyses, results, and an ending discussion. 

The article overall was a difficult article for me to comprehend because it had a lot experimental and psychological vocabulary that I am not familiar with. I think that the article can provide some useful information for my research, however, it ended up being about a different topic than what I expected.

Second semester for me has been off to a great start. I feel as if this semester is going to be very successful. My dance classes this semester are exciting and challenging. I am busy with rehearsals as well, being in two senior thesis pieces this semester. My two academic courses that I am taking are both classes that I am really enjoying. I was very excited to take the Intro to Nutrition and Food Sciences course because I am looking into a double major of Dance and Nutrition. I believe the two go hand-in-hand in one way or another. I have been doing very well in the class and look forward to learning more exciting new things. At first, I was not too thrilled about having to take a rhetoric class. However, the class has been surprisingly interesting and I find the theme of ethnography to be exciting because it has to do with the students around us on our campus. The course so far seems to be enough work, but not overwhelming or stressful. I also like the idea of using the tumblr social networking site to post on. I think it is a creative way to present our writings and ideas for our classmates. I am also excited to see how my writing improves throughout the semester.

Yet again, another tumblr post about dance. Personally, I never get tired about writing about dance because I never get tired of dance. For the reader it may seem a bit much, however, I would have to say that one does not truly know me unless they know my relationship to dancing. I learned how to dance outside of the school setting. I took my first ballet class when I was three, and it immediately became my favorite activity to do. I started off at the studio, Dance Studio Ltd. It was a good way to start off my dance training; not the best, but I discovered that I had a talent and that I loved to dance. I danced at the Dance Studio Ltd until seventh grade. The studio started making changes, and many of us were looking for a new place to dance. However, one of my best friend’s mom and my favorite dance teacher from the studio broke away and began a new dance studio. In a way, they saved us all from splitting up or having no where to dance. They began the studio Elite Dance Academy. I am forever grateful for Elite Dance Academy and always return to take classes whenever I am home. Elite provided all of the necessary resources to become a successful dancer; highly technical training, disciplined and inspiring faculty, spacious studios, and friends that will last a lifetime. I always knew that I loved to dance, but while dancing at Elite I discovered I had a true passion. I kept up with dancing and have reached where I am today because of my teachers at Elite, my dedication to the art, and my parents’ support. Without this combination, I do not know if I would be where I am today.