Who am I in transition? How do I identity me to myself and others?
I have written before about my graduate school experience, but I didn’t mention the question that I researched: “How does a person transition from one role to another?” The question came up because I had learned to predict which of the freshmen I advised would probably graduate from my college and which would not.
What I found was that it had little to do with their academic preparation and everything to do with forming a new identity in their new setting. This started me thinking about all of the transitions we make when we move from one role to another (e.g., new job, city, social group, etc.)
In fact, I identified three phases in the process:
The first involved giving up the identify I had before. For example, when I left the college where I had worked for 17 years as Associate Vice President, I had to give up that role in order to assume the role of Vice President at a museum.
I call the second phase “Fake It Till You Make It” because I no longer held the old role and was not quite knowledgeable of the new role yet. In fact, for the first two years I role played the part of V.P.
The third phase was completed when I fully integrated the role into my identity, meaning I no longer had to think about what I “should” do in the role – it had become second nature to me. And more importantly, I began to describe myself in terms of that role.
I also identified a “self” question for each phase:
Phase One: (Leave Old Role) Who have I been?
Phase Two: (Role Play) Who am I here?
Phase Three: (Become New Role) Who am I now?
This process is especially meaningful for me as I make another transition from Vice President to Chief Executive Officer of a museum and cultural center in Atlanta.
Although I am still assessing myself in this transition, I realize that my desires are to grow closer to God and who He intends me to be and to know what I am purposed to do because of my experiences and lessons learned along the way.
So, who am “I” in transition? My response is that I am…
Who are YOU?
Hello Dr. J, how are you? Kudos on your move to ATL. I look forward to seeing you there.
Ha! I love it! CEO of museum and cultural center!!! That is AWESOME Jackie. I wish you much success as you begin this new chapter in your life. What a great opportunity. As I read your post, it reminded me of a quote that I reference often. “I always knew I’d be somebody. Now I realize I should’ve been a little more specific.” I chuckle every time I read it or say it because it resonates with me. I use to just let life take me where it would…even though I enjoyed the journey. But now I know that I must live my life intentionally and purposefully. Because of this, I too can say I am…
I will finish my sentence with …a child of God. Everything else falls into place as long as I put Him first and continue to do his work. I can’t go wrong doing what I’m purposed to do, because as long as it’s purposed for me, only I can do it…and I’m fine with that. I started weekly reflection questions on my FB page DARE TO DO YOU. Ironically, one of my topics dealt with “Who am I” and today’s topic dealt with dreams. We must think alike. Take a look at the page if you have some time.
Have you moved already? Hopefully you were able to get out of Cleveland before it got too cold. Anyway, you’ve always been an inspiration to me (and many other students at Case). I appreciate you and the role model you’ve been. Continued blessings to you and hopefully our paths will cross again. If not, we still have FB.
Andrea! What a wonderful response! Thank you so much!
I, too, admire the woman you are and the grace with which you live your life. I’m certain that many others feel the same!
I will definitely check out your FB page – like you said, we are on the same page because we serve the same God! He always amazes me when he does that 🙂