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Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Monday, November 14, 2005

‘Apprentice adults’ need community’s support

By Steven M. Richardson | Guest view

Life in a college town offers continual opportunities to reflect on civility. Hardly a week goes by without some public comment about students’ drinking behavior and loud music or, from the student side, the city’s rental restrictions and one-side parking. It’s not always easy to know the right way to react when these issues make your blood pressure start to rise, but it is important to try if we are going to share the same community without killing each other. Let me suggest that a good first step is to examine expectations.

College students in the 18- to 22-year-old age bracket are adults in many ways. Most have had their final growth spurt and are at a lifetime peak in their physical abilities. Legally, society considers them old enough to vote, marry, own property and serve in the military. Most of them have job skills that offer a degree of financial and social independence. They expect to be treated as adults.

In significant ways, however, they are really “apprentice” adults. I don’t mean this in a paternalistic way, but simply to recognize the unsettled period that they are in. College students are typically new to life away from home, family and community. They lack the confidence that comes from mastering diverse learning challenges and the resilience that comes from surviving disappointments.

At the same time, they are eager to get on with life. Many underestimate how hard it will be to increase both independence and responsibility and keep the two in balance. Impatience might lead to frustration, disrespect and misbehavior — signs that students, might have set unreasonable expectations for themselves and us.

The community, too, can err by underestimating the importance of this apprentice role, expecting too much finesse from people who are new to adulthood.

Both sides need to get a grip on reality. Most of us grow up sooner or later. The journey into full-fledged, card-carrying adulthood doesn’t take place overnight, and it’s usually smoother with help.

This brings me to what I’m really writing about. The university’s relationship to the community is the most easily misunderstood part of this story of mismatched expectations. The presumption that universities should act in the role of parents collapsed as Korean War vets returned to campus in the 1950s. Still, campuses bear a major responsibility for student growth. They remain safe territory in which apprentices learn to become adults.

One of the greatest gifts we offer students in a university is the chance to fail gracefully and try again. Supervised trial and error helps students fine-tune their decision-making skills and bolster their confidence. The presumption is that students are better off testing life here with us than they are on their own.

It’s important to understand, though, that the university isn’t in this role alone. We have a big responsibility, but we don’t lock students in an ivory tower behind a wall and a moat. As far as students are concerned, the college town is an extension of the campus. It’s where they live, shop and learn from mistakes in the “real” world. They deserve the same tolerant guidance from its citizens they get from faculty and staff. That’s what you buy into if you settle in a town like Winona: the expectation that you will join with area colleges and universities to help young people in the struggle though apprentice adulthood.

When my kids were younger, we stopped overnight once in Elkhart, Ind. My daughter, who had always lived in a college town, sized the place up quickly. “Dad,” she said, “this place is weird.” With apologies to Elkhart, which I’m sure is a fine community, my reply was, “No, this is normal. College towns are weird. They actually care about young people, and it shows.”

May we always be able to say that about Winona.

Steven M. Richardson is vice president for special projects at Winona State University.

Guest views are opinions of the author and don’t necessarily reflect the views of the Winona Daily News. They are published to stimulate thought and to provide an expanded forum on issues of local interest.