Liminality and how to get through it
I don’t know about you all, but I am actually going to be leaving college in a few short months.
A lot of my human experience right now seems to be summed up in resumes and personal statements, where I take all of my life experience and wrap it up to look nice for grad schools and potential future employers.
When you’re spending the majority of your time taking what you have done in the past to prove things to people you want to be working for in the future, it can honestly be difficult to remember that you are a person who exists right now. It feels like a liminal state of personhood: I think I’ve done what I can, but I am not currently producing anything new. Now, I’ve heard it is important to feel like a person in whatever stage of life you are in, so I thought I would reach out with a few tips that I have learned to get through this phase of life.
1. Attend campus events
It’s the last time a lot of things will be happening. I have found it much more enjoyable to dig in and be part of the lil Concordia culture before I have to leave it.
2. Go after the things you want (but make sure you know what those things are)
It would be silly of me to disregard the fact that preparation for the future is an important thing. But it is important to keep in mind what kind of future you are preparing for. Maybe you’re ready to go to more school, or maybe you want to take a year off and go on a mission trip, or you want to get married, or you want to get a job that you got a degree for, or you want a completely different job that has nothing to do with your degree, but it sounds super fun! Point is, you have choices. All of them are acceptable and good. Just make sure you are making the right choice for the things that are right for you (and God’s plan for your life), even though that might not look the way you initially anticipated. Life is long! You are young! You’ve got time to figure it all out.
3. Pay attention in classes
Recently, I have had a more difficult time with this one, because I have been so enamored with Tip #2 that I have admittedly been a little distracted in my classes because I am trying to plan for the future. I had to kind of remind myself that it is important to me to try to be prepared for the future (in my case, applying to grad schools), but it is also important to me to be a good student right now. I don’t need to be constantly losing my mind over grad school. I can also be losing my mind over undergrad school.
4. Don’t even suppress your feelings
Recently, I was talking to one of my friends about how it was our last year and we were both kind of trying to get over it and say why it was okay, but we eventually got into the place where we were just a little sad, and that was okay. Or maybe you’re totally ready to leave college! Whatever the case, make sure to be aware of those guys (your feelings), and act accordingly.
5. Invite people over
Despite whatever feelings you may be feeling, chances are, you have been blessed with some pretty fantastic friends at Concordia. You grow and change a lot through your four years though, and sometimes the people who you grabbed lunch with all the time a few years ago just do not have coordinating schedules with you anymore. Reaching out to those people is so fun and good! Or maybe you’ve had the same pals for your whole college experience and you wanna hang with them. Whoever you’re spending time with, make sure it is someone, because the fact of the matter is, you’ll only be in this place with these people for a little bit longer. That is so special! Make sure you cherish it.
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