Week 2 Blog post

Part I: Rituals of transition are super important in the United States, as this is the time family’s and friends put time aside to come together and celebrate certain occasions. As the US consists of many religions, beliefs, and ethnicities, there are many rituals of transitions such as Bar and Bat Mitzvas, Quinceaneras, Baptisims, Conformations, etc. However, most people in the United States also celebrate graduations, weddings, puberty, funerals, retirement, and more. All of these rituals are so important to the US as they are a way to celebrate accomplishments in someones life and a way to keep gender the way it is as some of these rituals are gender based. This being said, without these rituals, I think everyone would feel alone and lost.

Part II: I, myself, have gone through many rituals of transitions. One example would be high school graduation. This was an important time in my life as this event was a transition into adult hood and mental freedom. This specific time was scary at first because I did not understand what happened after graduation, other than going to college. Although I was scared, I was also excited because I knew this meant I accomplished high school and every obstacle it put in front of me. This also meant I was becoming a real adult and could finally have choices regarding my future. I am personally glad that I had the opportunity to celebrate this event in my life with a ceremony and an open house as this gave me a chance to spend time with my family and friends who supported me although high school. I wish I could have told myself a year ago how easy it would be to live away from my family and also how much harder it would be academically in college, as I was more worried about moving rather than college itself. Another ritual of transition I would like to share is when I finally reached mental stability. This meaning, I had finally reached happiness as I had spent all of middle school and high school very depressed and suicidal. During senior year, I had gone to a facility to receive help that would eventually lead to bettering my mental health. I do not think this is a traditional ritual, but I remember one day I came home and told my family that I was not having those scary thoughts any more and I was actually looking forward to the future. This led to my family and I celebrating this goal I had finally reached, and led to me changing as a person and transitioning into a better version of myself. Looking back at this moment, I am grateful that I had met this goal of mental stability as now I have accomplished more than I could have ever imagined and made my family, and myself, so proud. This in a whole had transitioned me into a person who was excited for the future rather than not expecting a future.

Part III: In this weeks lecture, “Rituals and Rites of Passage”, I had learned that rites of passage include three different stages: Separation, Liminality, and Incorporation. These stages are what defines roles for men and women. Belonging-liminality-belonging has been a part of my college experience so far as I had belonged to a group before college and now I am in the liminality stage. I am in this stage currently as I do not know where I belong in this world or what kind of people I want to be around. When I moved to college, that was the separation as I had to leave my current group and go and find a new one. College is usually the time for people to get out and really try and understand ones life and get to know who they are as an individual. When I moved out to college, I expected to find a group right from the start and be able to “belong” in some sense. However, that has not happened yet and I have actually struggled to even make any friends. This is because of the explicit expectations of being a women, as it is really expected that one is dressed nicely, look well dressed, be outgoing, attend parties, etc. These expectations have been hard for me to fill as I have no fashion sense, I dress more like a male, I do not wear makeup, and I “go with the flow”. In return, this has made it harder for me to fit into a certain group, or any group really. With this being said, I am still glad that I am in this period of liminality as it gives me room and time to figure out who I am and what I want in life as a whole.

One thought on “Week 2 Blog post

  1. I am happy your high school graduation was a happy milestone for you. My high school graduation was not a big deal for me, personally. I had a different experience because I actually finished high school a semester early. As there are no winter graduation ceremonies for my high school, by the time my actual ceremony came around, I wasn’t really all that interested in taking part in it. I had worked hard to be done with high school early. I wanted to move to the next stage of my life and I wanted to start college that winter semester of what would have been my last semester of high school. I did not attend college that semester but I was working and I travelled to Europe as well. Some have asked me if I felt that I missed out on any rituals associated with the completion of high school. I really feel that I did not. My high school was huge and I had already attended several proms and I did choose to attend my senior prom – I went with a friend of mine and there was literally no pressure. He was playing soccer an hour before we were to leave and I had been working, I quickly came home and changed in to my dress. It was a great night. I also chose to have my Open House after I was done with classes – that was in December. It was unique and I had a great turn out.
    Thank you for sharing your struggle with reaching mental stability. You went through quite a bit and I am happy that you were able to find some help that allowed you to transition in to a better place for you. I think it’s wonderful your family chose to celebrate this milestone with you. What a wonderful thing! You reached your goal and you most definitely should be proud!

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