Tony Miller, Jr.

College Student Development Theory

Informal Self-Analysis Paper
Dr. Wilson
September 8, 2014

Informal Self-Analysis Paper

There are many different definitions of development when it comes to college students.
I believe everyone continues to develop as time goes on. My definition of development is the
progression of an individual as they find their purpose and passion in life; the natural growth and
maturation process which equips an individual on how to handle happiness, sadness, anger,
disappointment, and all other facets of life. As a person looks back on their college experience
or any experience of their life, they should be able to see the areas in which they have grown and
the areas in which they can do better.
Looking through the eyes of a Student Affairs professional, I see five stages an individual
or a student goes through once they start college and travel into adulthood. I believe these are
the stages that I went through as a student and so does many others. I think the areas in my life
of development which are relevant to where I am today is identity, family, leadership, purpose,
passion, supervision, and decision making. The stages are called Freshman Frenzy stage,
Settled Sophomore stage, Justified Junior stage, Senior Status stage, and the Adult Action stage.
I believe each and every stage is important to the development of the individual. On every level
the individual learns from the mistakes he/she makes and develops into a more polished person.
Each experience and each stage is paramount to the full development of the student. Each stage
represents growth in which they can see for themselves as well as those around them. In the next
few paragraphs, I will briefly explain what happens in each stage and also my experience in
each.
The Freshman Frenzy stage is what every college freshman experiences their entire
first year away from home and in college. College freshman have the ability to start over and be
who and whatever they want to be as soon as they set foot on a college campus. At this time of

Tony Miller, Jr.

College Student Development Theory
Informal Self-Analysis Paper
Dr. Wilson
September 8, 2014
their life they are looking to be accepted in some capacity, whether it is academics,
athletics/intramurals, student organizations, or socially accepted in general. Every college
freshman is looking for something that can define them, separate them from others, but also be
accepted by others. The silly things freshman students do are done because they are looking for
some type of identity. I remember my freshman year of college my cousin was the SGA
president and the President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Everyone knew him and
everyone was always trying to be around him. Everyone called him by his nickname Buddy
Lee. He told me to tell everyone I met that I was Buddy Lees little cousin and I would be
taken care of. My identity was found in my older cousin who had already made a name for
himself.
Like many freshman, I wanted to make a name for myself outside of my relation to my
cousin so I turned to flag football. I told myself that after the football season everyone would
know who Tony Miller, Jr. is and I would be set the next three years of college. Flag football
season came and I accomplished what I wanted to do and everyone took notice of who I was and
although I was still known as my Buddy Lees little cousin, people knew who I was by my
name. My freshman year allowed me to learn more about identity and see the importance of it.
Although it was not a life and death situation, I still learned a valuable lesson about how
important identity is to college freshman and what it means to have one.
The next stage college students encounter is the Settled Sophomore stage. This is the
stage in which students continue to build on the identity they have built for themselves or they
try to change an image they do not like. These students have been on the campus for a year and
they are no longer wandering around looking for classes, they have friends, they are a part of
different things and identity is no longer such a high priority. As a sophomore, students begin to

Tony Miller, Jr.

College Student Development Theory
Informal Self-Analysis Paper
Dr. Wilson
September 8, 2014
hone in on the things it takes to survive in college and do well. They start to seek out people
they can help and also look for leadership roles in the organizations they are involved in.
I remember entering my sophomore year of college as a resident assistant, a senator on
SGA, and the president of the Student African American Brotherhood (SAAB). I used my
freshman year to build on my identity so I could then position myself to do other things as my
college career progressed. I knew who I was and I was settled with classes, the campus, and also
extracurricular activities. Many students in their sophomore year feel more stable and
established, they are no longer asking the obvious questions about the campus, but now giving
out history and even secrets of how to survive on campus for those who have come behind them.
The third stage is the Justified Junior stage. This is the stage when students find
themselves as an asset or spokesperson for the university. They are seasoned college students
and even more students are asking for their help to navigate campus and they are justified in the
positions as students on campus. As a junior, the priorities change now that you are going into
your major classes and graduation is getting closer. Juniors usually move up even more in
leadership roles in the organizations they are a part of. For example, my junior year I became the
SGA president and was serving my second term as the president of SAAB. During the latter part
of the sophomore stage and beginning of the junior stage students start to learn more and more
about leadership. Students hear the words all of the time, but the lessons learned about
leadership at this point are intentional and much needed.
Another thing that justifies juniors is their ability to edge closer and closer to their
passion and their purpose in life. During their freshman and sophomore years they either had
undeclared majors or have now changed it to what they really want to do since they have been
exposed to different careers and opportunities while in school. I can recall during the fall of my

Tony Miller, Jr.

College Student Development Theory
Informal Self-Analysis Paper
Dr. Wilson
September 8, 2014
junior year talking to my mentor, our Vice President for Student Affairs about his career path and
how he knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. During this time I also found my
passion was student affairs and not law or American government. My passion was to help people
and my purpose was to help people get through college and expose them to different life skills
that they would not learn in a college class. As a junior, a student can reflect back on being a
freshman and evaluate how far they have come and how they are continuing to grow and develop
as a person. As juniors, students are preparing themselves for one of the biggest steps of their
lives thus far. Senior year.
The fourth stage is called the Senior Status stage. At this point of a college students
life things tend to get real. As a senior you are faced with mixed emotions. On one side you are
happy you are about to graduate and want to make the most of your senior year and have as
much fun as possible, but on the other side is fear, anxiety, and nervousness because you do not
know what will come after graduation. Most seniors focus has completely changed and if they
are still involved in their leadership roles, they are really trying to develop others as they leave,
but also trying to prepare themselves for the graduate school or job interviewing process. There
are no more questions about can I do it, it is I can and I will do it.
As a senior I stepped down as the SAAB president and became a student advisor of the
organization, but I stayed the president of SGA so I could develop and polish the president that
would come behind me. As a senior you realize how important decision making is and you often
think back on the previous three years and about what you could have done better or differently.
It is a time of mix emotions, but it is still a very fun time. A students senior year teaches them a
lot things about themselves they may not have already known about themselves. It teaches them
how to deal with pressure, confusion, conflict, emotions, etc. A senior carries themselves

Tony Miller, Jr.

College Student Development Theory
Informal Self-Analysis Paper
Dr. Wilson
September 8, 2014
differently than the other students because they know they are about to come face to face with
real life. Some students are ready and some students are not. Some students are still battling
with their purpose and even some still with their identity, but their status as a senior never goes
away. Senior year is when a lot of students grow up very quickly so they can keep up with the
tide and not be swept away.
Of course these four stages will not go by as smoothly as they did in this essay because
students are different, they learn differently, and they view things differently. Some students will
stay in a certain stage longer than others and some will progress through stages a lot quicker than
others. In my opinion, I believe I moved through the sophomore and junior stage quickly because
of the responsibilities I held as a student leader. Even now as a graduate student and professional
student affairs employee I can see what I did well and what I could have done better. Right now
I am in the middle of the final stage which is the Adult Action stage. This stage is where you
apply all of your lessons learned in the previous stages and you start to act like an adult because
you are officially an adult. In this current stage, I have been able to identify my strengths and
weaknesses as a person and as a professional. I have done well in development as it pertains to
identity, family, passion, and purpose. However, I have noticed my supervisory skills and
decision making still needs to be improved. The biggest factors for all of these things I believe
come down to the people around me such as my family, friends, mentors and the way I view life.
I also think my strengths and weaknesses also are impacted in a big way because of how I am
when it comes to relationships and my friendliness. My caring heart has helped me in many
ways, but when it has come to some of my decisions and supervisory skills it has hurt me. I also
think that my friendly nature plays an important role on how I learn as well.

Tony Miller, Jr.

College Student Development Theory
Informal Self-Analysis Paper
Dr. Wilson
September 8, 2014
I approach learning in a semi-aggressive way. I like to take in as much information as I
can and digest it slowly over time or until I can make it make sense in my head. I am definitely
an auditory learner because I listen very well. If I hear someone say something then I will
grasped everything if I am honed in. However, I can read something and only read what I feel is
important and miss important information. This learning style has helped me, but has also hurt
me. This style allows me to continue to grow and work on becoming a better student and
professional. Another thing pertaining to my learning style is I do my best in a face to face class
setting because of the relationships and dialogue that comes with the class. I like to interact with
people and bounce ideas off of others. I believe that this allows you to think deeper than your
original idea because someone can ask you a question pertaining to it that you never thought
about.
Informal theories allow people to gauge themselves and others, but at the same time learn
new things about themselves as well. Informal theories can even allow you to challenge formal
theories and see if they really make sense. One of the most intriguing things about informal
theories are they may be able to spark a dissertation idea or theory of its own if the proper
research and homework is done on the topic.