That was me then: How undergraduate students' experiences in residence shape narrative identity

Abstract

Postsecondary campus residence can be an environment that either enhances or hinders students’ academic success, social development, physical, and emotional wellbeing. Residence is as much a place to learn and grow as it is a place to sleep for students. It is the role of student affairs educators to provide not only a safe and comfortable environment, but through mentorship, the experiences to nurture personal growth as they move through emerging adulthood, transition to university, and navigate independence. The experiences during this phase, and more importantly how students make sense of them, play a critical role in healthy identity development. Using methods of campus tours, interviews, and online engagement, this narrative inquiry explored how five senior undergraduate students retold and reflected on how their first-year residence experiences shaped their identity making through a narrative lens. The stories the participants shared, and more importantly how they made sense of their experiences, showed evidence of personal development and higher learning. The findings suggest that student affairs educators working in Residence Life could employ a narrative identity development approach to working with emerging adults living on campus, which would align with the developmental tasks they are grappling with during their undergraduate years. Implementing such an approach requires a philosophical stance that student affairs practitioners are educators who contribute to the educational mission of the university and have a responsibility to support students to navigate the transition to adult life.