We all have different identities, different groups that we belong to, and behave differently in every one of them.

Ann M Johns, in her article “Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict, and Diversity” outlays these different groups that we partake in. She describes how communities of practice are what distinguish each group of individuals with a common goal or profession from the other communities. 

I had never really thought of this, but we really do belong to different communities and just because you belong to one, it doesn’t mean that it is the only one. 

Johns describes how there are Social, Political, Recreational, Professional and Academic communities. In each one of these, we all participate with different levels of involvement, according to the perceived importance of them in our lives. 

For example, my best friend is doing Culinary Arts in college and my major is International Business. Yeah, we’re opposites, thus we belong to two different communities. I am in school learning about the economy, different methods of marketing and finance, where she is learning new recipes and baking tips.  However, we belong to the same Social Community. We hang out with the same group of people, have similar likes and dislikes. 

We, as college students, are starting to develop our involvement in our “professional and academic communities as we start to network ourselves with peers, attend to extracurricular activities and organizations. 

As we start to assume these new identities, as Jonhs explains, there are some tradeoffs that need to take place. As the saying goes, “nothing worth having comes easy” or as my economics teacher used to say in high school, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” 

So, in other words, we have to sacrifice some aspects of our lives to be able to fully become that identity that we are striving for in college. Some students leave their families, their hometowns, everything that they consider home and safe in order to go to a good college. In my case, I still live with my mother, but I am not able to spend as much time with my family (especially my grandma) as I used to when I was in high school. 

Having to cancel plans in order to be able to go to an organization meeting. Not being able to fly back home for a weekend because of some important event that is going on at school. These are just a few of those tradeoffs that we need to partake in so that we are more involved. 

Just like anything else in your life, these communities and your involvement in them shape who you are as an individual, your identity. They might change your practices, habits and even your beliefs. Being part of the professional world, we need to be more mature, need to be able to interact with high ranking individuals and to make strategic decision making. 

Even the clothes that we wear might need to change. If you are a doctor or a nurse, you will need to trade in your skinny jeans and flip flops to scrubs and comfortable sneakers. If you are a lawyer, your shorts and vans to professional attire such as a suit and a tie. 

This is the way that we start to develop our membership in our desired identities. How we start to feel like we actually belong there. How we take out first steps into our future.

“Julianna can you please do a figure eight?”

Confused? Yeah, I was too when my manager asked me to do this “figure eight” thing in one of my firsts shifts as a sales associate at my current retail job at American Eagle Outfitters.

This is just one of the many things and key words or phrases that I had to learn going into the retail world. It was a very different culture as to what I was used to. Something that I have noticed is the different questions that we ask in regard to what environment we are in. For example, when meeting fellow college students, you ask “what’s your major?” or “what year are you in?” But in my new job, I noticed that the question to ask was “at what time are you off?” or “when do you work next?” 

There was a lot to learn, in between policies, product, different tasks to do. I have been in the company for about a year and I can say that I have most of it down, but it was not an easy road. 

There are hundreds of varieties of the product that we carry, we have to ship online orders, we have to make the cash & wrap operations in order to process customers’ sales. On top of that, many customers come in with different questions and complaints, and one needs to know how to respond to each complaint or request. 

Mirabelli explains how people that work in different jobs have to acquire different types of learning. The example that he provides is of the dinner that he focused his research on. In this dinner, he explains, there are over 90 main items in the menu and even more sides. In total, it consists of three waiters/waitresses, who have to know this menu by heart. In order to succeed in the business, the employees need to know that they are selling so that they can offer it to the customers. He also highlighted that a new waiter, named Harvey, faced the lack of knowledge when he started working. One of his examples was the difference between Pesto and marinara sauce. This might seem silly to some people, but it is things like this, little details that make or break it. 

One thing for sure, as I continue working in the retail business, is that I know that this is not a job that I want to have for the rest of my life. I mean, it’s not a bad job and my managers get paid enough to consider it well-paying. However, I know I want to be someone else, someone who has a college degree and loves her job. Someone who is able to help the community and those around her. As I strive to reach the identity of the person that I desire to be, a business woman who works in a nonprofit organization that aids the unfortunate ones, there are many other things I need to learn. 

 In college, I am starting my path into learning those different readings and practices that I need to learn. Whether it is in my accounting class or my finance classes that teach me skills that I need in order to perform well in my future job. When I go into my first internship as an International Business student, I am 100% sure that I am going to be faced with hundreds of new experiences that will help me grow. But that's the beauty of life and of the unknown, and of getting out of your comfort zone.