In this second post of my series on the Life Cycle of Alumni, I will outline my metaphor comparing the metamorphosis of caterpillars to pupa to butterflies to the transformation of prospective students to students to alumni. This metaphor came to me as I thought about how individuals change from the time they start thinking about college through their graduation and think back on their college careers.
Every metaphor has key points of agreement between the object and the target. However, there is no perfect metaphor, in which there is complete agreement between the object and the target. If there were complete agreement, then the object and the target would be identical, and no metaphor would be necessary. In the metaphor that I am proposing between alumni and butterflies, there are both agreements and disagreements in the developmental changes of the object and target.
The first point of agreement between the object and the target is that for both butterflies and alumni, the developmental stages are so different from other stages. Caterpillars and pupa are very different from each other. Prospective students and students have very different attributes and behave very differently from each other. Pupa and butterflies are very different and behave very differently. Students and alumni are very different and behave very differently from each other. In their different stages, caterpillars, pupa, butterflies, prospective students, students and alumni have very different wants and needs. They must be treated differently.
The second potential point of agreement occurs in the pupa and student stages of these life cycles. In the pupa stage, the organism essentially withdraws from the world and transforms itself into a completely new organism. The classic model of a college education was for the students to withdraw from the world and have the time and opportunity to mature into productive adults without being encumbered by the affairs of the world. However, this model of a college education has become increasingly rare and hence, this may actually be a point of disagreement between the object and target of the metaphor. Students no longer have the luxury of withdrawing into a cocoon to mature.
I believe there are at least two other places where the metaphor lacks agreement between the object and the target. The first point of disagreement centers on the fact that in the development of butterflies, the three stages do not appear to have conscious knowledge of the other stages of development. This contrasts with the development of alumni, where prospective students can and do look forward to being students and alumni. Students can remember what it was like when they were prospective students. They also definitely look forward to being alumni. Finally, alumni remember what it was like being prospective students and students.
The second point of disagreement is that for butterflies no outside agent assists the butterflies through their developmental stages. Butterflies lay eggs, which hatch into caterpillars. Caterpillars grow and mature until it is time for them to settle into the retreat of a cocoon for the final stage of transition. While in their cocoon, they continue maturation through a process of metamorphosis. When that is complete, an adult butterfly breaks out of the cocoon. After this period of metamorphosis, an adult butterfly breaks out of the cocoon and flies away to propagate the next generation of caterpillars and pupa. Adult butterflies do not seem to have maternal concern for their offspring. In each stage of this life cycle, the organisms grow and mature until it is time for the next stage.
In the case of alumni, the academic institution is heavily involved in each developmental transition. This places a heavy burden on the institution to plan their programming to maximize the potential benefits to the individuals who are progressing through the developmental stage of alumni. If the institution is successful in helping prospective students become successful and engaged alumni, those alumni can in turn be very helpful in assisting the institution aid more eventual alumni on their developmental journey. Alma Mater must be a very different kind of mother than Mother Nature. She must be actively intrusive into the developmental process.
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