Chickering’s 7 Vectors: The Ultimate College Road Map

Anxiety can stem from thousands of different sources for college students. Whether you’re stressed over the borderline-degenerate activities you participated in over the weekend, worrying about the paper that’s due at 11:59 tonight, feeling lost in it all, or all three, there is a philosophy I was taught in the classroom that changed my perspective of college life forever. The unit chapter was called “Chickering’s 7 Vectors,” a philosophical approach to understanding the universal goals that should be accomplished by all who pursue higher education. To put it simply, it’s my college road map. 

Developing competence 

Step one in our school survival guide is pushing yourself and trying to be more of a scholar. While we are still taking courses and racking up grades, it’s also important to focus on one’s own sophistication. Developing a brief understanding of the world around us, working to expand our daily vocabulary, and challenging ourselves to be the best we can be will create a world of educated individuals and leaders. 

Managing emotions 

Our second focus is where my anxiety heightens in our college guide through the vectors. Being able to manage your emotions is one of the most important vectors you should work on while you’re in college. Between stress, world issues resulting in depression or anxiety, and all the other pressures of life, it’s important to be able to maturely experience and cope with these emotions in order to not let them overtake your achievements or goals. In other words, learn to manage your emotions now so you don’t get fired for throwing a tantrum when the intern at your office job gets your coffee order wrong. 

Moving through autonomy toward interdependence and developing mature interpersonal relationships 

Overstimulation is common in college, but especially here at UMass with an overwhelmingly large and active student body. It’s common to feel anxious after a day of being out socializing, but these lonely moments are ones to grab hold of. Being able to cruise through life independently not only builds character but will help you learn more about what you like and dislike within your own personal life. But don’t worry, college isn’t all about being comfortable in your lonely hours. They say you’re more likely to meet your bridesmaids than your groom in college, so why not show those baddies why you love them? Engaging in mature relationships between friends or significant others is a lot more impacting than we may tend to believe. I’m sure we all value our friendships a little more, post-pandemic lockdown, as well as the effort, time, and energy that go into a strong everlasting friendship. Developing these more profound or long-lasting relationships is another target goal we should be achieving or working to achieve at university to be able to truly grow into ourselves. 

Establishing identity, developing a purpose, and developing integrity 

The last three vectors are fun to interpret. I’ve heard some people read these vectors and think they were all major-oriented and focused on academic goals that should be achieved. However, I’ve also heard people interpret these as personal goals. I don’t think there is a wrong answer, but I also don’t think it would hurt to try viewing it both ways, both internally within oneself and externally in one’s field of work. 

The vectors are here to provide a sense of orientation to college students. The vectors are the closest thing we will have to a “Ned’s Declassified College Survival Guide” so we must value the smaller lessons inside to plant the seeds the vectors have given us to grow into the individuals we were meant to be.

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