The student experience: how university students perceive success
LE3 .A278 2022
2022
MacNeil, Ryan
Acadia University
Bachelor of Business Administration
Honours
Business Administration
Business
This thesis considers the challenges of defining “success” as an undergraduate student. Previous research suggests that “self-authorship”—the practice of authoring ones’ own journey—is the highest form of undergraduate success. That idea is consistent with cultural pressures to set aside other peoples’ definitions of success and create your own. I show that the student experience is more complex than this. Through autoethnography, I examine the taboo of copying others, the drive to fit in, and the pressures of being a fourth-year student on the cusp of graduation. I explore these themes further through fictionalized accounts of real discussions with two senior undergraduate peers. Overall, I argue that student success is best understood in a raw and authentic way that resonates with other students.
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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3812
