Trine University - Modulus Yearbook (Angola, IN)

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AWARE SS OF ELF. . . 2 s -1 J 'E 5 iaizaiwfrf Stiff 1 'Q i , 1 , ,. L1j.jE.' H ' i -- . , A ' A it - t.1,uqzdw .nat. . ., . 8 'Q It appears to be a national obsession as we close the seventh decade of the twentieth century to reflect with nostalgic yearning upon the good old days of the fabulous fifties. The Pepsi generation seems pale and flaccid by contrast to the F onzie genera- tiong yet as we learn to accept the cyclical movement of the generations, there is no doubt that twenty-five years from now our children will be discovering the glamour', of our own turbulent times. In the search for a discovery of ourselves there is, at least in part, an inherent urge to define what we are by determining where we came from. If this thesis has any merit, it might explain the interest of the young adult in an era that ended before he or she was born. If generalization can be allowed, the young adult of twenty-five years ago came to discover a growing awareness of self as he discovered the role-models which were more clearly defined and more arbitrarily accepted at that time. Perhaps he defined himself as he attempted to conform to the role that his society expected him to accept as his destiny. A Today, an awareness of self takes on new and, in many cases, personalized aspects: recent popular publications, catchy com- mercial jingles, and quasi-militant slogans have told us that, among other things, we are O.K., we can have it our way, and we have a right to our own space. Our needs, an important consideration in any evaluation of the self,eseem more autonomously deter- mined and less societally governed. It does not seem as selfish as it once was to consider what we want, what we need, what we have a right to expect. Though the basic needs seem never to change, the manner in which the individual asserts and achieves his ,

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lurwvgvwfwwwa:-1,1 wx 4' A ' . 4 I V 52536: e, 1 --Ur: '- ' .. 'mi X: . .- lv' , . V A needs can be seen to be changing. Just as minority groups have urged and are still urging their voices to be heard and their needs satisfied, the individual is asserting his right to be recognized as an important, though singular, voice in the society to which he belongs. Perhaps the most dramatic demonstration of a new awareness of self can be found in the emergence of the woman as a viable. powerful, and valuable force in contemporary life. It is not that she has discarded the domestic functions that seemed, not long ago, to be her sole destiny, but that she, through a recognition of her own worth and potential, has become aware of the growing number of options available to her. We all come a long way, baby, fif I may paraphrasej when we recognize what we are and what we can do. Yet with this new awareness of the importance of self comes the responsibility to be all that we can be. The college experience has helped us all on our way to self-discoveryg we will always define ourselves against the demands that are made upon us in and out of the classroom. We know that the completion of four years at Tri-State University does not signal the completion of the awareness of who we are, but we cannot deny the significance of the personal, intellectual, and societal changes that we have undergone as our selves have developed from orientation to graduation. By William R. San Giacomo