In chapter 11 of Exploring Leadership, the phases of change are noted. According to Daryl L. Conner, one of the phases of coming to grips with change includes the behavior of ignoring or not accepting change as a reality.
Right now at UH there is a great bit of change occurring. The instructional days have passed and students no longer have lectures to attend. This is a major change. The daily responsibilities of students have dropped but finals are still on the horizon. The change from lectures to finals week is a stressful change for students. Classes are pau and thoughts of celebrating the approaching holidays dance in the back of everyone’s mind. But thoughts of Christmas celebrations are clouded by the stress of finals. Students forget or deny the inevitability & importance of finals and they party.
I bet last night, the night of the last instructional day on campus, the bars around campus were full of students celebrating the end of classes. I bet they will be full again tonight and on Saturday night. I am calling this “party” behavior the denial of change for students. They deny the importance of their finals, which may be a substantial part of their grade. I deny the importance of my finals too. I find myself goofing off, going out and playing while I should be focusing on my finals. I know my finals are important but I give myself lots of freedom until the night before the 1st final is due. I questioned my actions and further stressed myself out.
It is easy and it is a stress relief to deny the importance of finals. I have denied the importance of finals at the end of every term for my 6 and a half years at university. This term was the first term where I questioned this behavior. My feelings are that if it has worked for me for all my years at university, and I earned my BS and I never failed a class or a final, then this behavior must work for me somehow.
My denial of the importance of finals is a big step in going through the end of the term changes which occur at a university. The denial facilitates relaxation and stress relief. My focus shifts for an interval of time before I accept the reality of finals. Maybe it does not shift but it is defiantly clouded. In this cloud of denial I spend time with my friends. I eat good food and I drink good drink. I watch movies and I go swimming. I go to parties and I meet new people. From the surface it does not look like I am progressing through a state of change but all the denial is moving me through the change.
Student housing administrators even acknowledge the party behavior associated with end of term changes. Dorms & apartments all over campus have events and parties because the hall directors (administrators) want students to go through this change in a safe and supervised manner. Often students party a little too hard in their denial of the importance of finals and the dangers of this behavior are realized too often. I encourage everyone to party responsibly this weekend. Go out and enjoy yourself, it will help you move forward.
