Using Language to Create Reality
Freshman orientation is and was an occasion of seismic, or earth-shaking importance in my life. It is an occasion that marked a series of 'firsts.' It was the first day of my life as an undergraduate. No more a high school student, awash in a sea of ordinary students. I was in a school that I had chosen, and had chosen me. So much of my academic life in high school had been devoted to honing the perfect resume for college. Now I was in college. The word 'first' had strong positive connotations and associations in my mind, related to this event. But the first day of college was also my last day as a high school student. I did not think of it this way, but this different perspective shows how language can shape emotions about events in a very crucial way. A student can look at the first day spent in a college environment as the first day he or she can meet new friends, choose new classes, and begin to break away from the family routine. Viewed in this way, orientation sounds exciting. However, to look at freshman orientation as a series of lasts would seem sad. After all, it is the last day the student will be a child with few respons
Now, from the perspective of one who has survived freshman orientation, this may seem like the most acceptable definitional approach, in terms of language and attitude. Many of the people I was close to during orientation have drifted away, since the beginning of formal classes. The setting aside of the early, transitional time into an "orientation" period as defined by language enables a kind of mental separation to take place in my now fully oriented student mind. Now, I am fully a part of the college community and its regular rhythms and the artificial structure of freshman orientation seems like an unusual, rather than a characteristic time. Now I can laugh at my old identity: "oh that was only during orientation," when I remember being lost on campus, for example. Language provides a positive, separating function, just like the word "first" did while undergoing the process. In English, the word "first" has strong positive connotations, while the word "last" does not. I am fortunate that I thought about the orientation process as a freshman in terms of firsts. I note that, in my culture, I am not alone in my associations of the word
Some common words found in the essay are:
Merriam-Webster Online, , Online Dictionary, freshman orientation, merriam-webster online, 2006 merriam-webster online, 2006 merriam-webster, strong positive connotations, strong positive, school student, firsts lasts, positive connotations, picture world,
Approximate Word count = 775
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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