College students are still maturing

As described in a news release from Darthmouth University:

Two Dartmouth researchers are one step closer to defining exactly when human maturity sets in. In a study aimed at identifying how and when a person's brain reaches adulthood, the scientists have learned that, anatomically, significant changes in brain structure continue after age 18. ... The results indicate that significant changes took place in the brains of these individuals. The changes were localized to regions of the brain known to integrate emotion and cognition. Specifically, these are areas that take information from our current body state and apply it for use in navigating the world. ... "The brain of an 18-year-old college freshman is still far from resembling the brain of someone in their mid-twenties," says Bennett. "When do we reach adulthood? It might be much later than we traditionally think."

I'm bringing this to your attention because I sense a reluctance among students to come forward and ask for help from people who should be able to help them. Students should realize that asking for help from people who are there to help them is perceived as a sign of particular maturity and confidence and not as a sign of weakness and ignorance.

I fit into the pattern identified by the researchers. I know that I wasn't even an approximation of who I am now until I was in my early 30s. While I am still nowhere close to being able to keep my emotions close to the vest, I am now much better at being able to control my emotions and not allow them to rule my minute-to-minute activities. Even now, as a 43-year-old, I know that I think about relationships and situations much differently than I did when I was 30, let alone 20.

So, this is an admonishment to college students based not on the fact that I'm an old fart — though I'm getting there — but on actual science: Your professors, your parents, your advisors — all these people might actually be able to help you. Many of them actually think about things in a more advanced and sophisticated way than you do. We're not just dense; we see things and think about things in a different way, as being more interconnected and complicated. Going to your peers some times, many times, will not be enough because they are at the same stage of development. It's not that we're smarter than you; it's that we've had experiences that have shaped our brain (and, thus, our thinking) in a way that will happen to you but hasn't happened yet. It's not that you won't be able to think as an adult; you simply might not be physiologically able to do so at this stage of your development. We won't always give the right advice — we're not perfect — but we should at least be able to give you a different, and valuable, point of view.