Demographic Data & Informal Observations:
The participant is a 21 year old Indian American male, he is what some developmental psychologist consider an emerging adult. This period of development spans from 18 - 25 years of age [1]. Shreyas is attending the University of Central Florida and is majoring in Biomedical Sciences and minoring in Health Sciences. He is of average height and weight and is attractive. He seems stressed, but that may be due to the fact that he has assignments due at midnight and it's currently 8:00pm. Nevertheless, he still manages to make jokes and has a smile on his face. He is quick on his feet and hesitates at times to answer, not because he’s guarding something but because he wants to give me the most concise answer he can find. The interview is conducted in a dorm, and nothing seems to be out of order. It is messy, but that's normal considering the fact that he's in college. Overall, he just seems like a regular college kid just trying to get into medical school. Additionally, we both feel very comfortable conducting this interview, and are eager to begin.
Physical Functioning & Body Image:
The interview beings by discussing the participants physical abilities, his health, and his appearance. Shreyas begins to tell me that he cannot run long distances but is able to lift weights. When asked about his health he tells me that he is doing okay at the moment. I asked him what he meant by the phrase "at the moment," and discovered the following:
"I was born with a congenital heart condition, and did not have a pulmonary valve until one was implanted into my heart when I was 16 years old. that was the second open heart surgery I've had. the first one was 45 days after i was born."
This surprised me since most adults his age are thought to be at the peak of their physical development, additionally of those emerging adults that do not find themselves in top physical shape, only 1.0% actually parish from a congenital disease. That's astonishing since a whopping 27.5% of those ages 15-24 actually pass away due to an accident [1]. I then proceeded to ask him about his appearance, how he thought he looked. He laughs and says "tall, dark, and handsome," and then tells me to delete that with a smile still on his face. He proceeds to tell me that he's of average height, with dark hair, light brown eyes, small ears, and scars on his chest due to the multiple open heart surgeries he's had. Unlike many adults his age, Shreyas takes his health seriously and tries to watch what he eats. Unfortunately due to his heart condition, and lack of time he does not play sports nor does he work out. This is typical for many emerging adults, and is problematic since on average adults his age should do 30 minutes of physical activities at least 5 days a weak to warn away potential health risks and signs of secondary aging which are a direct result of lifestyle choices [1]. When I asked him if he thought he was physically attractive he expressed to me that he did not believe he was attractive, nor did he think being physically attractive was important. Although he also stated that he does take measures to ensure that he looks good, which include eating healthy, sleeping right, and washing his face regularly. When he looks into the future he sees himself changing quite a bit. Shreyas sees himself getting a little bigger, having more facial hair, winkles, and bags under his eyes. Much further into the future he sees himself with a hunched back since his grandfather has one, in addition to sporting a head with only gray hairs considering the fact that he already has some. This type of aging however occurs to all adults and is called primary aging [1]. Primarily, he worries about whether or not his heart condition will progress, and if so how this will affect him later on in life. Moreover, he hopes that his dexterity will not be affected with age since he aspires to become a Cardiothoracic Surgeon.
Intellectual Capabilities & Educational Experiences:
We now move on to the intellectual abilities portion of the interview. I begin by asking Shreyas to tell me about his intelligence in addition to any skills or talents that he believes he possesses. He tells me that he does believe that he is very intelligent. He has learned a lot in his four years of college. His classes have not only played a vital role in molding his intellectual abilities, but they have also helped him become more dedicated to medicine. He also now studies and reads on a daily basis. Shreyas, like many other emerging adults, feels as if he has a limitless amount of opportunities that can allow him to become the adult he truly wants to be [1]. The decisions he is making now are what set the stage for his future years ahead. Shreyas has many talents. He can play an instrument, dance, is good with his hands, and excels at teaching things to others. In this stage of development, Shreyas's frontal lobes have grown drastically. This is important, since this is the portion of the brain that is responsible for logic, planning, and emotional control. This drastic increase is what makes him more intelligent than his younger counterparts [1]. He considers himself a bright person. He is particularly good at science subjects and has done excellent in classes like Anatomy and Physiology, along with Molecular Biology I. He is also talented with computers and most forms of technology, in addition to having countless amount of leadership, counseling, and mentoring skills. At this age, Shreyas's crystallized intelligence is well developed because of all the academic courses he has taken [1]. I found it particularly interesting how much more he had to says about his intellectual abilities as opposed to his physical abilities leading me to believe that for him, brains come before beauty. In the future, he sees himself constantly learning, and becoming more aware due to his profession. In general, he sees himself much more intelligent than he is today. When it comes to his school life, Shreyas tells me that he is doing well, and that for the first time in a long time he wouldn't change a thing about his teachers this semester saying that they're phenomenal. Unfortunately, he says that:
"My experience this year is bittersweet. It's amazing that i've been here four years already, but it's sad that in the spring it'll be my last semester here. that being said i'm hopeful that i'll be staying in orlando by getting accepted into the ucf college of medicine."
Shreyas is now fully absorbed into the career path he has chosen and is experiencing flow, not only does he feel an extrinsic motivation to continue, but he now has intrinsic motivation as well because he cannot see himself doing anything else with his life. Moreover, he is no longer weighing the pros and cons of a potential career, but has actually already decided where he wants to go in life, he is no longer experiencing pragmatic thoughts and is now functioning to the best of his abilities giving it all he has to work towards his end goal, becoming a doctor [1].
Personality & Relationships:
Continuing onto the personality aspect of the interview I asked Shreyas what he though about himself? He tells me that he is a fun outgoing person. He is social and friendly, but does not like to have too many friends although he does know a lot of people. He tends to act different with people he doesn't like, and that is immediately noticeable by someone who knows him really well. When asked if he's changed much since he was younger, the answer was an automatic, yes. When Shreyas was younger he was incredibly friendly and always made it a point to have fun. Unfortunately, through middle school and high school he became more quiet and closed off. He didn't know that many people since he moved schools a lot, and was actually frequently teased. Initially when I asked him why he was teased he chose not to answer, but he then jumped up and said, "Actually I will answer!" He expressed to me that he was teased because of his heart condition which made the left side of his chest bigger than the right side. Moreover, like most kids, he was teased because of his height. I asked Shreyas how he saw himself changing over the years? He told me that he saw himself becoming friendlier. He didn't like when he was quite and reserved therefore he never wants to go back to being like that. Shreyas's relationship with his parents is good, they joke around and laugh. He tells me that they are loving and supportive, in addition to being open and friendly. He can talk to them about anything although at times they do tend to butt heads. After a long pause, and a bite of his Triscuit, he laughs and tells me that more than anything they disagree about what he should be spending his money on. What he thinks is important is vastly different than what they think is important. They also tend to disagree on pets, meaning whether or not they should have any, but overall they have a wonderful relationship. He feels especially close to his family when they are having lunch or dinner together, or when they are celebrating holidays such as Diwali. In retrospect he feels that they have actually become a lot closer. Like most adults his age Shreyas now lives alone and is not under the watchful eye of his parents, He has gone though the process of individuation. He feels as though they are more equal individuals and can equally discuss whatever they want, which he says is nice. However, next semester when Shreyas graduates from college, and hopefully begins working, his financial reliance to his parents will begin to decline along with how connected he is to them. In regards to his friends, Shreyas describes them as being quite similar to him. They are open minded, outgoing, hardworking, and smart in their respective areas. When asked if he has a best friend, he smiled and said,
"YEs! And the best part is that she's also my girlfriend!"
All of the connections Shreyas has made up until this point are increasingly important at the age he is now. According to Erik Erikson he is now in the Intimacy vs. Isolation phase of his life. In this phase, the person is focused on establishing intimate relationships. Shreyas is in a committed relationship, and usually hangs out with his girlfriend who is also a biomedical science student at UCF. This is consistent with the attraction-similarity hypothesis which states that usually individuals are more romantically attracted to other individuals that are like them. This similarity refers to personality traits, certain characteristics, and even levels of attractiveness. However, Shreyas and his girlfriend are not completely alike since as previously stated he is of Indian descent whereas she is of Colombian. However this is completely normal since many other individuals his age are in relationships with other individuals that are outside their racial group. Shreyas says that much like him, his parents are equally as open minded, and could care less about the racial difference. When asked what his girlfriend was like he proceeded to tell me how she was amazing. He described her as the love of his life. According to Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love, Shreyas is experiencing Consummate Love which is a combination of intimacy, passion and commitment [1]. Shreyas describes the high points in his relationship as times where they are making memories, taking trips together, and even the small things like when they say the same things at the same time. Aspects where he'd like to improve his relationship are more personal. He says he's like to finish his school work faster so that he won't be as stressed and so that that stress wont come over into the relationship. When he looks into the future he sees himself marrying his current girlfriend when they are both in a financially stable place. Although he is not a big fan of children he does want at least one child. Moreover, he also wants to have pets. In all, he sees himself in a big house with his wife, kids, and dogs. As for the career aspect of his future, both him and his future wife aspire to be surgeons, and he sees both of them working at the same hospital.
Feelings About Life Stage:
Shreyas says that the most important things to him are his family, his girlfriend, his academics, his health, and at the moment getting into medical school. He says that the good thing about being his age is that he still has his whole life to look forward to. According to him, he's at that age where he can still make mistakes. The bad thing about being 21 is that other people his age give my demographics a bad rep. Also, there are times where he looks back to see if he could have done thing differently. He also hates how it is now harder for him to learn a new language, since he would like to learn Spanish. In general, he feels exited about the future.
"A lot has changed in the past year, next year by this time I'll hopefully be in medical school, and in 4 years from then I'll hopefully be in residency, so my life is constantly going to be changing."