Something hit me during my parents' visit this weekend when I was sitting in their hotel room and talking to them for hours: I was sitting and talking to my parents for hours--and enjoying it.
More than anything, more than an ending or a beginning, college means change, and most of those changes can be boiled down to independence. The authority granted to your teachers and parents retracts, and the authority you assume over your own life dramatically increases. This is not only demonstrated in your successes and failures, but, more subtly, the way you relate to these former authority figures.
The roles are tweaked. We are no longer defendants, and parents and teachers are no longer judges and juries. We are now as we appear--individuals working toward an individual goal. Parents and teachers are now facilitators in our quests. Some of us will succeed with minimal help from them, and others of us will need to rely heavily on them. The important thing is the more level ground on which we all stand.
It's hard not to notice this particular change when we get out of class early but stay, of our own volition, to talk with our teachers just for fun. It's hard not to notice when we begin arguing with our parents over who gets to pay for supper. When we call home regularly not because we have to but because we want to.
It's hard not to notice when we're sitting in our parents' hotel room, talking for hours--and enjoying it.
More than anything, more than an ending or a beginning, college means change, and most of those changes can be boiled down to independence. The authority granted to your teachers and parents retracts, and the authority you assume over your own life dramatically increases. This is not only demonstrated in your successes and failures, but, more subtly, the way you relate to these former authority figures.
The roles are tweaked. We are no longer defendants, and parents and teachers are no longer judges and juries. We are now as we appear--individuals working toward an individual goal. Parents and teachers are now facilitators in our quests. Some of us will succeed with minimal help from them, and others of us will need to rely heavily on them. The important thing is the more level ground on which we all stand.
It's hard not to notice this particular change when we get out of class early but stay, of our own volition, to talk with our teachers just for fun. It's hard not to notice when we begin arguing with our parents over who gets to pay for supper. When we call home regularly not because we have to but because we want to.
It's hard not to notice when we're sitting in our parents' hotel room, talking for hours--and enjoying it.
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