Adolescence Collage By: Madeline Mellert by Madeline Mellert

Biological Transitions

mmellert22 — 2024-09-11 02:35:51 UTC

The biological transition artifact is collage art for my first-period experience. I can recall my first-period experience to this day. It was two months before my 14 birthday during my first rehearsal, gearing up for that year's Nutcracker all Grunched up. I was in eighth grade when I had my first menstrual period, which is also known as menarche. According to Hoose, many girls experience their first menarche, sometimes in the age range of 12-13 (Hoose, 2021). I wouldn't say I was on time or late since I was only about to turn 14. Overall, I would say I was in the middle of the average timeline for specific development changes because I also experienced the typical signs before menarche, such as developing body hair and breast buds. My first period was relatively calm because it was very light spotting for the first time, and a couple of months later, I also recall myself using tampons right away. As a dancer, I did not want to wear a pad in ballet clothes that were tight and form-fitted to my body. I also can recall my period during my young adolescence to always be manageable and consistent to this day. I have never experienced something that is not quote-on-quote typical for young girls. I have never missed a period. Overall, my experience during my first period showed an essential aspect of biological development during the development of young adolsencents.

Hoose, N. (2021, January). Puberty Begins | Adolescent Psychology. Courses.lumenlearning.com. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/adolescent/chapter/puberty-begins/

Cognitive Transitions

mmellert22 — 2024-09-11 02:36:26 UTC

My last Evaluation Team Report from high school was the artifact supporting cognitive transitions during my young adolescent development. During my last ETR, before I entered high school, I was administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition(WISC-V) at the age of 14. Hoose states, "The WAIS-IV yields scores on four domains: verbal, perceptual, working memory, and processing speed" (Hoose, 2021). In the artifact above, you can see my full-scale IQ and each score for the four domains. My lowest area was the processing speed index, with a PSI=83. I scored at the normal distribution to peers in my average age range in all the other domains. To qualify in a specific area, you must have a standard deviation of 15 below 100 on an IQ test. Having a full ETR done before going to high school was a crucial aspect in my cognitive transitions so my high school teachers could understand that I had the cognitive ability to perform well. Still, in some academic regions, I might need additional support since I qualified in the area of SLD in the area of reading ability. Overall, My ETR shows a well overview of my cognitive ability, especially during my young adolescent cognitive development.

Hoose, N. (2021, January). Puberty Begins | Adolescent Psychology. Courses.lumenlearning.com. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/adolescent/chapter/puberty-begins/

Social Transitions (cultural)

mmellert22 — 2024-09-11 02:36:36 UTC

The cultural Social Transitions artifact pictures me as one of my longest friends as her confirmation sponsor. One critical cultural belief and socialization aspect that played a pivotal role in my development during my adolescence is my religious and faith beliefs. My entire life, I have been raised with the beliefs and standards of the Catholic Church, which have now shaped how I preserved my life as a young adolescent and emerging adulthood. Typically, during your teenage years in the catholic church, a teen is the one who decides if they want to take part in the sacrament of confirmation. My faith is a vital part of my cultural Social transition artifact, which I took part in as a freshman in high school in 2018. Eventually, my close friend Elise asked me to be her confirmation sponsor. To be able to take on that role, you must acquire some role preparation. You must be over the age of 16, be baptized as well as confirmed Catholic, and provide support in the faith by showing the candidate a supportive relationship with god by attending masses regularly. My religion will always be a key part of my social-cultural background, which has developed who I am today.

Family

mmellert22 — 2024-09-11 02:36:43 UTC

The artifact above shows many key people in my family who played a pivotal role. Family has always played a huge role in my young to emerging adolescent years. For my family, I will focus on my family's contextual factors and sociocultural characteristics that played a role in my life. According to Hoose, "The parent-child relationship does not occur in isolation. Sociocultural characteristics, including economic hardship, religion, politics, neighborhoods, schools, and social support, influence parenting"(Hoose, 2021). During my young adolescent years, I lived in Medina, Ohio, where I have lived my entire life. My parents have always been part of the working class. My father had some comic struggles since he was unemployed twice during my adolescent years. On the other hand, my mother has always had a job during my teenage years. Some other key characteristics that have also shaped my parent's parting style have been my contextual and sociocultural characteristics, such as my school, neighborhood, and social experiences. I grew up in the same neighborhood as my dad but at a different time. For example, he grew up in Medina through 60-the 70s, whereas I, on the other hand, was during the early 2000s. My parents perceived our neighbors and schools as safe so I could go up to the square and experience independence. I also believe my family presented a healthy balance of closeness and independence. For example, my family made sure my actions had consequences. Hoos shares that "Consequences are a result of choices and how people evaluate their choices and decision-making processes."(Hoose, 2021). My parents gave me independence in choice-making but always made sure that if my choices did not align with my parents', there would be consequences.

Hoose, N. (2021, January). Puberty Begins | Adolescent Psychology. Courses.lumenlearning.com. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/adolescent/chapter/puberty-begins/

Peer Groups

mmellert22 — 2024-09-11 02:36:51 UTC

Peer relationships were meaningful in my young adolescent years. The artifact above shows some of my peers with whom I spent way more time than my family. Many of the peer relationships and interactions I established during that time were based on shared activities and interests. For example, all my closest friends during that time came from sharing the same passion for dance and being on the same dance team. According to Hoose, "Adolescents within a peer group tend to be similar to one another in behavior and attitudes, which has been explained as being a function of homophily (adolescents who are similar to one another choose to spend time together in a "birds of a feather flock together" way)" (Hoose, 2021). Above, in one picture, you can see my friend group all packed in our friends' car. Together, on any breaks, we would usually all get smoothies and lunch at Sheetz. I can always recall a lovely lady at the cashier saying, "Look, here comes the AIM girls." We are going all together to spend time as a group supporting the idea of homophily. Lastly, even though all the friends at the dance loved hanging out with each other, there were still cliques outside of our team. According to Hoose, "Typically, people in a clique will not have a completely open friend group and can, therefore, "ban" members if they do something considered unacceptable, such as talking to someone disliked" (Hoose, 2021). I can recall some girls who made cliques and did not always invite all of us to hang out outside of dance. When this did occur, sometimes it would hurt our overall trust and peer relationships as a friend group.

Hoose, N. (2021, January). Puberty Begins | Adolescent Psychology. Courses.lumenlearning.com. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/adolescent/chapter/puberty-begins/

School

mmellert22 — 2024-09-11 02:37:00 UTC

School has always been one of my favorite things. I have always enjoyed learning about the benefits education has provided me. The artifact above is a picture of the teachers who played a pivotal role in my high school journey. Most of the teachers pictured above were some of my intention specialists during my high school experience. During high school, I was lucky enough that my high school was amazing at co-taught inclusion classes for students. We were still in general education classes but needed extra support because they had learning disabilities. According to Hoose, "Another factor making classrooms increasingly diverse has been the inclusion of students with disabilities into classrooms with non-disabled peers" (Hoose, 2021). Being able to always be with other peers during high school rather than being taken to a trailer like in elementary helped my self-esteem and academic performance. I have to thank all my high school teachers from Medina High School because I would not be the young adult I am without them today. My teachers had a direct impact on my school experience that I will never forget.

Hoose, N. (2021, January). Puberty Begins | Adolescent Psychology. Courses.lumenlearning.com. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/adolescent/chapter/puberty-begins/

Work, Leisure, and Media

mmellert22 — 2024-09-11 02:37:08 UTC

I have always worked a few hours, like babysitting, yard work, and even assisting dance classes or working the front desk once I reached 13. All of those jobs, though, were under-the-table jobs. About is my artifact, though, shows the training I had for my first job, where I had to fill out tax papers. According to Hoose, "Holding a job may offer teenagers extra funds, the opportunity to learn new skills, ideas about future careers, and perhaps the true value of money" (Hoose, 2021). During my first real job, I got many of those experiences. I gained many skills in consumer service since I was an art assistant to the consumers who were coming in to make the piece of wood art. With a paycheck, I also started learning the value of money and paying off stuff. Addianlly, I also got a job at Board and Brush to help my mom pay for my last year of dance as a senior because I wanted to take more classes and perform at more completion. Taking more classes and routines costs more money, so I had to start working a couple of extra hours when I could.

Hoose, N. (2021, January). Puberty Begins | Adolescent Psychology. Courses.lumenlearning.com. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/adolescent/chapter/puberty-begins/

Identity

mmellert22 — 2024-09-11 02:37:16 UTC

Being a dancer is one core identity aspect that has been part of my entire life during my young adolescent years, though it was the central aspect of my self-concept and self-efficacy. The artifact above supports this because it was my senior-year picture showing that I self-identified myself as a competitive dancer. According to Hoose, "One of the ways to gain a clearer sense of self is to exaggerate those qualities that are to be incorporated into the self" (Hoose,2021). My self-concept as a competitive dancer played a considerable role in my self-efficacy belief as a dancer. For example, usual dancers who have stronger self-efficacy beliefs are more likely to perform better than other dancers who might have lower self-esteem. I can recall that after good performances, my self-efficacy felt higher when I returned to practice after that well-experienced performance. Overall, being a competitive dancer, separate from other individuals, shaped a certain category of self-concept I had with my identity during my adolescent years.

Hoose, N. (2021, January). Puberty Begins | Adolescent Psychology. Courses.lumenlearning.com. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/adolescent/chapter/puberty-begins/

Autonomy

mmellert22 — 2024-09-11 02:37:32 UTC

My college decision was one pivotal example of autonomy during my young/emerging adolescent years. Above is an artifact that shows my acceptance letter and my summer oration experience, where I said goodbye to my parents for the first time. Choosing where I wanted to go college was one of the most essential morally informed decisions I had thought about when I was entering my emerging adult years. I always knew going to college would be a choice for myself, not anyone else. I see it as an essential concept of where I could finally achieve all the goals that could get me to my end goal somewhere in life. lastly, I always thought making that choice to go college should develop the skill of self-determination and knowing my preferences, behaviors, and needs I would need to be successful without my parents making my daily life decisions for myself every day.

Intimacy, Love, Sexuality

mmellert22 — 2024-09-11 02:37:40 UTC

My artifact shows a person who helped me develop and understand fundamental qualities of love, such as passion, intimacy, and commitment. My grandmother's love and passion for my family taught me what to look for in relationships. For example, her relationship with my grandfather showed me that a healthy relationship is one in which you must always be committed to each other and support each other passions. Each of my grandparents also supported their grandchildren's passions as well. My grandparents never missed one of my dance shows during my middle and high school years. Even if one of my grandmothers was sick and not healthiest, she still attended my performance, where I had the leading role of the Grinch. My grandmother shaped my outlook on the value of loving, passionate, and committed relationships.

Achievement

mmellert22 — 2024-09-11 02:37:47 UTC

The artifact above supports my academic and other achievements during my adolescent years. I have always been highly motivated to achieve the goals I set for myself. During my high school experience, I tried to utilize intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to pursue my goals. Some examples of those specific goals were based on my grades, understanding the material, and being recognized for my hard work. The artifact above shows some academic goals I achieved. As a freshman, I can recall wanting to be a part of the National Honors Society. I applied for Junior and was not accepted, but that did not stop me from trying again my senior year. After taking some extra courses and doing more community service, I was accepted, and the goals I set for myself were achieved. The picture above also shows my achievement of receiving the Medina City Teacher Association Scholarship. That achievement was probably the most cherished one from my adolescent years. Lastly, the last picture artifact representation was of my senior dance performance, where I achieved a judge's choice award for my joyful and shining presence on stage.