And just like that, we’ve got another semester in the books, Huskies. As always, transitional periods mean change, and change can be a scary thing. I’ve written before about the pervasive fear of change that comes with the end of a semester, but now we’re at the end of the academic year, and the fear is even more significant. Thus, it’s important to remember, everyone is feeling this way.
Stress about transitional periods is reasonable and happens to all ages. For the college demographic, May is always somewhat of a nightmare. At this point in our lives, much of our identity comes from being a student, and the changing of that for the next few months – or rest of your life, if you’re graduating – is terrifying. But we should remember that it is first a privilege to have this crisis. We furthermore have the opportunity to do it better each time. Thus, the transitions will get easier, but they’ll likely never stop, and that is something we have to come to terms with.
In essence, it’s easier to not fight these periods of massive upheaval on the individual level. You can’t know exactly what’s going to happen to you in the future, but you can control how you react and deal with it. While this of course seems silly or obvious to state, it’s really important and thus something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. As always, if you would have told me in August where I would end up at the end of this academic year, or even in December where I would be at the end of this semester, I would’ve said you were crazy. But at the end of the day, I am where I am now and I am proud of it. You should be too.
Personally, when I start to get stressed about changes – whether they are miniscule or largely significant life developments – I try to remember my oldest friend. She is very much of the opinion that worrying, particularly about things out of your control, makes you suffer twice. In fact, we joke that she “lets life happen to her,” a new extreme of going with the flow. As a bit of a control-freak myself, the idea of my soulmate living like this terrified me. How could she just not stress and let everything come to her instead? But I think she has an important point, in that there are some inevitabilities that are not worth fighting tooth and nail against. The recurrent changes that come with the end of the semester fall into this category: unavoidable, not inherently bad and not worth fighting against.
This is cyclical. It happens every year and we survive it every time. While it might be difficult to alleviate the stress of change permanently, it’s not impossible to mitigate its effects. This requires prioritizing taking care of your mental, physical and emotional health. And it also requires patience. It’s very childlike to be afraid, which can be frustrating to experience as an emerging adult. But as I have mentioned, everyone is feeling this way. Arguably, no one is fully prepared to do anything ever. Leaping into the deep end of change is petrifying, but the only way out is through.
Personally, I am beyond excited to take on the new, upcoming roles in my life, even if they bring about fears that can be somewhat paralyzing. I am thankful for the new opportunities coming my way, even if they are unfamiliar and therefore daunting. Hence, while there are a lot of thoughts Inside Maddie’s Mind this week, flexibility is the main takeaway. I’ll look forward to summer and my next semester, while still validating my fears of these oncoming changes. Thankfully, some things never change, and I’ll still be at The Daily Campus in the fall, writing as much as possible. With that, I’ll catch y’all on the next one. Thanks for reading.