Running head: STUDENT INTERVIEW

Student Interview
Tyler Sanders
Western Michigan University

STUDENT INTERVIEW

2
Student Interview

Development in the undergraduate experience is a constant and normal trend for

individuals of the average age group of college students. While development is an ongoing
process, there are several forms of growth that occur during the four or more years that students
attend college as described in Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice
(Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton & Renn, 2010). In multiple meetings with Matthew Adams, I was
able to recognize a bevy of areas where he had experienced development during his three years
at Western Michigan University (see Appendix for complete list of interview questions). Adams
is a resident assistant in one of the residence halls on campus which provided me with weekly
opportunities for interaction on a personal and professional basis. During our meetings, Adams
and I discuss the development of his residents and often times reflected on the happenings of his
life. Adamss story stood out to me as distinctive and specific. This made him a unique student
to connect some of the developmental theories that related to his experiences and background.
Chickerings Theory of Identity Development
When sitting down with students for meetings, my first focus is to create a welcoming
environment that allows them to tell me where they are in lifes journey. While some are closed
off to this idea, Matthew Adams was open to discussing anything in full depth. Adams comes
from a family where he and his brother were adopted at a young age, but still have contact with
his birth mother and father. His brother has been to prison on more than one occasion and
Matthew remains the good child. With these relationships, Adams shared with me some of the
encounters and feelings that he has had throughout his life (M. Adams, personal communication,
September 25, 2013). From the unique family makeup experiences, Adams has went through
development in a different way than that of the average college student.

STUDENT INTERVIEW

Most noticeable about Adams is the way that he handles his emotions. Using
Chickerings vectors, it would appear that Adams is comfortable with managing emotions.
Chickering (1993b) says, Their challenge is to get in touch with the full range and variety of
feelings and to learn to exercise self-regulation rather than repression (p. 46). This regulation is
apparent as he shares his stories and emotions with me regularly during our meetings. It is also
important to recognize that during his sophomore year, Adams began visiting the counseling
center for relationship issues (M. Adams, personal communication, September 25, 2013). While
this could be sourced to his early childhood experiences of forced development or his practice
with trained professionals, there is also interaction among the other vectors.
Being adopted at a young age, Adams shared that he has been less dependent on
relationships with others and was therefore pressured into self-sufficiency as explained by
Chickering (1993). There were most certainly positive moments during childhood on the
moving through autonomy toward interdependence vector. However, Adams also shared his
decision to change majors during his last semester, reflecting more movement along this vector.
His desire and passion for dance had always been just a hobby, but I decided that I loved it and
had to do it for myself (personal communication, September 25, 2013). Adamss ability to
pursue this decision against the societal pressures reflect this positive movement. Matthew
Adams also shared how his relationships with the university community allowed him to make a
confident decision (M. Adams, personal communication, September 25, 2013).
Similarly to how Adamss management of emotion was connected to interdependence,
these variables also are connected to his development of mature relationships and establishing
identity. In these vectors Adams appears to have the possible retardation of development due to
his sexual orientation as described in Levine and Bahrs (1989) study (as cited in Evans, Forney,

STUDENT INTERVIEW

Guido, Patton & Renn, 2010). However, after arriving on campus the student was able to
continue to use his development in the other vectors to assist with positive movement in these
vectors. Further development was seen in the development of mature relationships and
establishing identity vectors as Matthew Adams described his sexual orientation and the
relationship that formed after coming to college.
DAugellis Model of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Development
While DAugelli (1994) recognized the differences in sexual orientation identity
development from the past. Due to historical changes in the context of this type identity,
Matthew Adams still acts as an example of individual faced with the pressures of society
(DAugelli, 1994). Entering college Adams was aware that he was not heterosexual and thus
began to develop a personal identity concealed from the rest of society. Adams contributes this
to the lack of community that was available for the LGBT community members in his
hometown (M. Adams, personal communication, September 25, 2013).
Upon arrival to campus Adams was able to a more open and welcoming community that
encompasses many universities as Dilley (2005) described in Non-Heterosexual Male Collegiate
Identities (p.57). During his freshman year, Adams began developing a gay social identity.
This involves creating a large and varied set of people who know of the persons sexual
orientation and are available to provide social support (DAugelli, 1994, p. 326). In
interviewing the student and observing his relationships, it is apparent that through the last three
years he has had the chance to create this support system and use it in verifying his identity.
Once Adams had went through this process, he started to explore intimacy and
relationships with this sexual orientation status. In many of our meetings I heard stories about
partners that he had during his first year of college and the experimenting that occurred. It is

STUDENT INTERVIEW

apparent that these relationships were not necessarily directed to create the public form of
relationship norms, but during his sophomore year Adams started a public relationship (M.
Adams, personal communication, September 25, 2013). This relationship started to define the
intimacy status of his sexuality. As discussed previously this relationship did cause regression
for Adams in some of Chickerings (1993b) vectors including mature relationships. In
Matthews attempt to form an intimacy status, his partner had created many challenges
emotionally which left him in a more fragile place then he had gained from childhood
experiences.
The next process in DAugellis (1994) theory looks at the idea of entering the lesbiangay-bisexual community. In this stage students start to become involved in the political and
social actions of the LGBT community. However, in the interview with Matthew Adams he had
a clear commitment to his personal identity above national engagement. My personal belief
finds that Adams is still moving through the process of creating an intimacy status. By not
moving through this process he has been unable to start concerning himself with societal politics
(M. Adams, personal communication, September 25, 2013). As Adams has moved forward in
Chickerings vectors and completed several processes of DAugellis theory, there is a direct
relationship to Perrys cognitive theory.
Perrys Theory of Intellectual and Ethical Development
During the interview, I made many references back to the way that Matthew Adams has
worked with his residents and the lessons that he has taken from these encounters. Using
comparison as a tool, I discussed with Adams the experiences that he had gained from coming to
Western and by becoming a resident assistant. During the last three years it was clear that

STUDENT INTERVIEW

Adams had experienced transitions through the positions associated with intellectual
development (M. Adams, personal communication, September 25, 2013).
While I do not know exactly see where these transitions occurred for Adams, he started at
a point of multiplicity during his freshman year. Using Perrys (1981) theory, as the student
moves away from the subordinate of his hometown and moves to campus he recognizes that
there are varied opinions can have legitimate opinions and ideas. However, through classes and
interactions with other students in the residence halls, Adams started to recognize the diversity of
opinions and ideas (M. Adams, personal communication, September 25, 2013). As Perry
suggests, Adams had developed the mindset that all ideas could be legitimate, but he had not
developed any criteria for making a just decision (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton & Renn, 2010).
Through the resident assistant job, Adams transitioned from multiplicity to relativism.
Often found in positions dealing with conflict management, Adams found that the thought that
everyone is right was not a suitable belief (M. Adams, personal communication, September 25,
2013). In mediations, there had to be a solution to the problem that arose. By being able to be to
take an outsiders perspective on simple situations, Adams started to development a sense of
higher examination of situations (Perry, 1981, p. 86). While a greater commitment to relativism
is in the future, I look forward to seeing Adamss continued movements through the positions.
Conclusion
In reflection of my meetings and interview with Matthew Adams, I found that he had
faced development in several theories associated with students. While aspects of development
were paused because of regression in certain forms of development, there appeared to be
multiple connections between the various theories. These connections become apparent when
they are broken down to decipher sources for certain forms of development. By being a part of

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the college experience, Adams was able to move forward in development that would have been
different if he stayed in his hometown. Development is essential to becoming a successful
member of the global community and through this interview it appears that Matthew Adams is
and will continue to prepare for this success.

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8
References

Chickering, A. W., & Reisser, L. (1993b). The seven vertors: An overview. In A. W. Chickering
& L. Reisser, Education and identity (2nd ed., pp. 43-52). San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass.
DAugelli, A. R.. (1994). Identity development and sexual orientation: Toward a model of
lesbian, gay, and bisexual development. In E. J. Trickett, R. J. Watts, & D. Birdman
(Eds.), Human diversity: Perspectives on people in context (pp.312-333). San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
Dilley, P. (2005). Which way out? A typology of non-heterosexual male collegiate identities.
The Journal of Higher Education, 76(1), 56-88. Doi:10.1353/jhe.2005.0004
Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010). Student
development in college: Theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Perry, W. G. (1981). Cognitive and ethical growth: The making of meaning. In A. W. Chickering
& Associates (Ed.), The modern American college: Responding to the new realities of
diverse students and a changing society (1st ed., pp. 76-116). San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass.

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Appendix
Matthew Adams Student Development Interview Questions
In conducting research for this paper, I used the following questions to spur conversations with
Matthew Adams. These questions were general questions that were asked and then follow-up
questions and discussion was used to collection more information on the student.
1. Explain to me how you feel you are different today in comparison to your first day of
undergrad on an emotional, social, and physical level?
2. In what cases did you find yourself thinking differently about who was an authority
figure?
3. In the resident assistant job are there any examples of ways that you have had to take a
different perspective then you had previously taken?
4. Looking at the interactions you have had with certain residents in the building, do you
feel that you went through similar moments or situations? If so, explain how they were
similar and what makes you think differently today.
5. Through the many experiences you have faced as a student leader, which of them do you
believed help to develop you the most?
6. What factors of your college experience helped you to develop and grow from your
sophomore year to this year?
7. Share with me more about the process that you went through in developing your identity
on campus.