Chapter 5: “I Know There Isn’t Anything I Can’t Do”: Adult Learners Find Identity Through Bachelor’s Degree Completion

One of the primary reasons I attended college was because it was simply in my life trajectory. In my mind, and for most people I knew, life went something like this: high school graduation, four years of college, job(s), graduate school, marriage, kids, career, and retirement. My trajectory thus far has been, with some exceptions, exactly as it was programmed for me. So when I think back to college, I remember my bachelor’s degree as an important time in my life that led to growth, maturity and a foundation for my employment prospects, but not one that particularly defined me, nor my identity. In fact, later in life, it was mostly the reputation of my college, rather than my personal experience there, that defined its importance in my future. The question we ask each other is, “where did you go to college?” followed by “what was your major?” I do not ever recall being asked, nor thinking about, how college shaped my identity nor my perspectives on life-long learning.