Listening Ears at Emory

          The video below is from a 1970s self-affirmation video entitled, “Free To Be… You and Me.”  I thought of it the other day when I was having a conversation with one of my male friends who was talking about ”how weird it was” that our professor got teary in class when talking about the death of a friend. This comment spawned a conversation about who it was acceptable to cry in front of and what things were ”worthy” of tears. My answer is always, “It’s alright to cry!” 

                When is the last time you took a class simply because you wanted to try something new? Have you tried a novel thing lately? Most likely the answer to both of these questions is no. It is often a struggle to fully experience emerging adulthood while at Emory.

Emerging adulthood is the period from the ages of 18-25, during which people are supposed to explore their identity and are free to try different lifestyles. Parsons (1942) describes our role during this time as a roleless one. We are not yet tied down to a family or profession and thus better able to take risks. During this time most people leave their parent’s home and live in different places from year to year. The focus of the emerging adulthood is not the future, rather on one’s current development and exploration is of utmost importance.

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