Essay Example on the Power of College Traditions: Building Shared Values & Identity

Introduction

Collage traditions serve a critical role in student's life; most events and routines conducted in school help students to learn about the history and development of the institution, rituals, and the importance of events of passage such as school orientation or graduations. Collage ceremonies and traditions provide a sense of building a community, creating a shared value that transcends from one generation to another. Some traditions make student's generation's identities enthusiasm, and pride (Martin et al. 2015). College institution needs to maintain active and routine traditions to encourage a positive culture that students can appreciate and feel like they live a new community of education, events, and the passage of life and sense of belonging.

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Since collages in the modern world are increasingly diversified, common traditions bring about inclusivity for all the general population in the school, including the marginalized groups. It is, however, essential for the institution to take control of the traditions to controlling the changing perspectives of some of the traditions that may have negative impacts on student's development and learning process. For the sake of making ceremonies and traditions more useful, more robust, and promote positivity towards them. All the relevant contributions from that college stakeholders should be appreciated; practitioners should critically recognize the faults associated with specific traditions and, more importantly, incorporate the changing perspectives of traditions as a result of modernism (Martin et al. 2015). This research article, therefore, explores the importance of college ceremonies and traditions from different perspectives, including student affairs and institutional benefits of the traditions.

Background

Collage ceremonies and traditions have long been used by the institution for building a unique culture in higher education. Newly enrolled students and alumni students find a sense of belonging to the institution and the new community-like environment. They play a critical role for the students, schools, and other college stakeholders with society. Ceremonies are defined as a formal practise or series of practices performed to recognize a significant event, and traditions can be determined by rituals, conventions, or protocols (Hansen, 2015). In college, ceremonies involve many people, including students, teachers, and other stakeholders, their involvement makes, and protocols make it an official event.

On the other hand, traditions refer to long-established beliefs or customs transmit tent from one generation to another; in college, members of ages have been associated together by traditions. There are many types of ceremonies and traditions observed in college; these include orientation ceremonies and graduation ceremonies. Orientation ceremony refers to an occasion where new students met other students and members of college staff; it is merely an official welcome ceremony for the new students to an institution. Graduation is a ceremony conducted to award students upon completing a certain level of the college program; it a celebration of achievement that marks future steps of individual students (Hansen, 2015). Graduation is also referred to as convocation or commencement ceremony. These and many other ceremonies have been established as traditions for many college institutions across the globe. They are celebrated on a timely basis and involve different events and rituals.

Statement of Purpose

This research article explores the importance of college ceremonies and traditions from different perspectives, including student affairs and institutional benefits. Students serve as the core focus in any collage institution; other ceremonies and traditions have been established to perform a specific purpose. This research uses the various peer-review article to justify the importance of ceremonies and traditions in college from different view posits. I find this topic interesting to study because ceremonies and traditions serve a more significant role in education, it is also useful in my current position in college and would help to more about it in as I proceed with my studies.

Objectives

The main objective of this research paper is to identify the importance of collage traditions and ceremonies. The main focus is to explore the roles that they play in the individual lives of students during the academic period, as alumni, in general, college population, and to the institution. The new knowledge and understanding of the topic would be useful to integrate into my higher education. Another objective is to help project a specific topic for further research.

Literature Review

A college that has a routine, ritualized traditions and ceremonies are essential for students to consider, these acts are not just as simple as they may seem, but they carry considerate positive impacts for an individual student during and after completion of a particular program in from an institution. Different colleges have developed diverse traditions and ceremonies, apart from the ceremonies mentioned above, there are other events such as Athletic Alumni events, Homecoming weekends, and Maydays. These and many other events serve a critical role in the development and academic progress of individual students. They bring students and other members from different components in a collage together to do on a common background.

From student perspectives Pruitt, 2017 affirms that some of the traditions and ceremonies help to integrate a sense of college belonging to a more considerate and vital element in school. More importantly, college traditions help to develop a sense of pride in an individual college among faculty, administrators, and students. Most of the ceremonies and rituals make one excited to be going to school and mingle with another student during such events in college. A collage is like a community, students, staff members, and other stakeholders make up political, economic, and social elements of a community in the school. As observed in an ordinary community, people come together during ceremonies and traditions to participate, intermingle, and promote intercultural activities. Likewise, to the college community, these activities are essential in building social interactions. They help to encourage moral and provide students with unique experiences to remember during and after college Pruitt, 2017. Most of the researchers have focused on the benefits of the collage tradition while the negative impacts have not been addressed; some unfit traditions require further studies to justify if they are relevant, especially in modern society, this presents a gap in research.

Role of Orientation Ceremony for Newly Enrolled Collage Students

Orientation ceremonies are the events designed by institutions to commence the interaction of first-year students into the new academic sociocultural climate on the campus. Orientation is one of the most important traditions and ceremonies appreciated by students and institutions. The primary purpose of orientation in higher education is to help the newly admitted students interact with the new environment, understand the nature of higher education, the available e opportunities, collage values, mission, visions and functions of the collage in the community and the society at large (Owusu et al. 2014). From this ceremony, new students learn more about the institution and the core objective as an academic centre. Orientation, therefore, is one of the most critical practices in a collage that students and administration should consider encouraging active participation not only for the newly enrolled students but also for the ongoing undergraduates.

According to Owusu et al. 2014, orientation ceremony is important because it encompasses a variety of activities that helps to support the transition of new students into the university educational institution. The author's focus was to find out the impact of orientation on the performance of undergraduate students. The survey conducted showed that active participation in orientation ceremonies significantly had a positive effect on academic performance. They also that orientation has been a tradition for many collages for aver century; however, in recent decades, orientation has gained more popularity with the incorporation of more activities to create awareness of the new environment. Orientation helps to control the impacts of mental isolation because first-year students tend to develop a sense of isolation as they enrol in colleges.

Owusu et al. suggest that higher education institutions should consider using effective strategies to carry out this ceremony to integrate new students into adopting new values and education platform. The author provides useful insights to understating the impacts of orientation on the academic and social life of students in universities. It is therefore clear that collage traditions and ceremonies of this kind are useful and should be observed to realize positive impacts in the school, community, and society. Orientation promotes integration, connectedness, and acceptance into the new environment; the author suggests that it vital for the school administration to consider that the initial approach to the new students determines their future learning progress in the school; this must be taken seriously. A few research studies on orientation ceremony have been conducted; therefore, there is a gap to address; participation in this occasion has recently been faced problems of low attendance; it is essential to study further the impacts of the occasion and the reasons for decreasing level of participation.

Importance of Collage Traditions to Alumni

As an individual student's traditions and ceremonies provide unforgettable memories about life on campus, it makes one feel more connected to his or her school even after leaving the institution. Hansen, 2015 describes the broad experiences and perceptions about alumni for students who attended higher education. The study found that the connectedness of alumni to an institution is determined by the traditions of a particular college, undergraduates, career, and alumni experiences that are important to consider. The authors identify one of the critical role of alumni and the reason to promote tradition that promotes alumni, their opinions, reviews, and interest about the institution. Involving alumni in various activities in the institution is vital to encourage undergraduates to struggle with school experiences to achieve the best in at the end. They act as practical examples to the undergraduates. To promote positive perceptions about the institutions, the authors suggest that it is essential to maintain lively traditions and ceremonies that would leave students with unforgettable and exciting memories about the institution.

According to Hansen, 2015, graduates are the most significant assets to a college institution; it is the only guaranteed asset that grows annually. However, alumni serve as the only foundation philanthropic support for most of them; their value goes a long way to impacting the general public about the institution. The author suggests that long-standing traditions concerning the alumni in school serve a great purpose to appreciate their efforts, give their views, and set an example for the undergraduates. Also, Martin et al. affirm that university tradition has a positive impact on building long-standing alumni brand and loyalty to the institution. The authors explore different works of literature to determine factors influencing alumni loyalty and giving in society and to the school as a community. They conclude the study from a theoretical, practical perspective. Theore...