With the end of the year fast approaching, I've started to look back at this year. I've made the usual comments, like "wow I can't believe this year went by so fast!" or me still gaping in awe over the fact that I will be a senior next year, but I haven't really had time to really think about what I did this year. I've been so caught up in the storm of finals and goodbyes and excitement for summer. In retrospect, I am really really happy that I took this course this year. While I may have lacked some interest at some points, but overall I found it to be a great class as it was both educating and engaging. I think, had I taken this class at an earlier age, I wouldn't have really understood the concept of coming of age. This class has helped me understand it a bit better. It's more than just growing up.
Because of this class, I am not going to lie, I sometimes found myself wondering what MY coming of age story was. When was it going to happen? Had it already happened? Was is happening now? I don't think I'll know until I am able to look back and reflect on it later in life. Many of the books we read this semester were narrations of experiences told by future selves, so I don't think that the characters knew those were important moments until they were able to stop and think about it. So, I probably won't know which moments are my important moments until much later. But I think that what I do know is that this year has been a really pivotal year for me. I branched out, made new friends, tried new things, and had new experiences. While this may not be like other coming of age novels, where the protagonist has a problem and they must face it, I think that I have learned so much from this year, and that's what's important to me. Especially this past quarter, I have learned how to deal with stress and manage my time and prioritize things. I learned how to not be afraid to ask for help, and I learned that making new friends isn't as hard as I thought it was. These are the things that make me who I am, and so while this year might not be my coming of age story, it's definitely a piece of the process. What things have you gained from this year?
I totally agree. I think taking this class this semester really helped me understand and appreciate what coming of age is. This year as well, has really stood out to me in my own coming of agre process. Like you, I've made tons of new friends and learned so much about myself that I think will stick with me forever. It's been a great course, and a great year
ReplyDeleteChanges and their impact definitely become more apparent as time passes. And while we're frantically making plans for the future, often those changes go unnoticed. That's why I think timing is important, and as you've said, taking this class may not have made as much of an impression had we taken it at a less opportune moment. I've always been very apprehensive about life after Uni, but I'm glad that we've had a course to not only introduce the diversity of that transformation but also to encourage critical thinking about our own process.
ReplyDeleteI think that part of the reason this year has been so pivotal is because of importance in terms of getting ready for college applications. With new challenges, we tend to learn things about ourselves that we had no idea of before and in order to advance we are forced to adapt to the challenges.
ReplyDeleteAfter all these coming of age stories, my own slow process of coming of age is seeming so anti-climactic! Nonetheless, this class has given me a better perspective on what it means to come of age, and I'm more aware of the various things that are happening to myself that are pushing me there.
ReplyDeleteThis year has been a rather unfortunate one with respect to coming of age for me. The only coming of age I've done has been intellectual; my ideas about the rest of the world have progressed, but not so much my social or personal... anything. Yet we're all getting college shoved down our throats now, and are expected to have made serious decisions about what kind of people we want to be (what we want to study, what culture we want to immerse ourselves in, etc.). It's a bummer. My college list is still basically non-existent. I feel like coming of age ought to be (maybe has to be) self-driven, but societal pressure to come of age has out-run my own (currently very minimal) desire to grow up.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I've grown into myself a lot this year. I've always had an issue with speaking up and being self-assure and all that, so I used to just keep everything to myself and not speak up when I thought there was something I could fix or be helpful with. This year, though, I was made soccer captain and I spoke up a whole lot more because I HAD to be vocal and I had people looking to me for direction. It was super terrifying at first, but I think I ended up being able to speak up more and try to direct people without worrying too much about how other people saw me.
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