Part 1: One important ritual that I went through when I was younger was my first communion. This is an event that takes place within the catholic church when a child is seven years old. Before the communion children have to take multiple classes so they understand what to do during the communion. The first communion for a child is when they are able to take the body and blood of christ. Wine that is blessed by the priest represents the blood of Christ and bread that is blessed by the priest represents the body of Christ. Before I was able to celebrate my first communion I was baptised with holy water but was not able to participate in the other church events. When I was in second grade, around the age of seven, then I was at an age where I was able to understand the significance of the communion and able to understand why I was going to partake in the communion. This was a transition within the church of being a child of Christ and being an active member of the church. 

Part 2: From what I remember I was very nervous to participate in my first communion, even during the practices I was very nervous and thought I was going to mess up the whole time. I liked doing the practices however because instead of having the blessed wine and bread we were given grape juice and vanilla wafers. My whole family came from out of time to be present during my communion, I was excited they were all there to celebrate me but I did not want to participate in the communion itself. The mass was held at a church different from the one I normally attended this made me even more anxious because their were a lot of new changes all happening at once. The only people at the mass were those receiving their first communion and their families. Every child receiving communion was dressed up, boys in tuxedos or nice clothes and girls mostly in white dresses. 

Looking back at my first communion now it seems like such a silly thing to be nervous about. I understand why I was having anxiety about the event however now that I have received communion so many times it seems almost like second nature. I barely remember my first communion itself I just remember the nerves I was feeling but everything else is just a hectic blur. I can now take communion without being nervous and I don’t feel the need to drink the blood of christ, simply because I don’t like the idea of drinking out of a cup everyone else has been drinking out of. 

Part 3: One thing I remember before going to college was that at a doctors appointment my doctor told me she was going to write me a prescription to start taking birth control because she did not want me to become pregnant in college. This was a responsible decision to start taking it however my mother did not like the idea of me taking birth control and did not like the idea of me being sexually active at all. This first transition is basically what college is like, you are on your own and have to make responsible adult decisions everyday but then when you go home for breaks you are treated like a naive child. It’s a very confusing time because you’ve been acting like an adult on your own for a long time in a new place but then you go from having freedom to being told what to do again. In my experience once I turned 21 my parents saw me as being responsible and able to make my own decisions ultimately once again, they no longer gave me curfews or constantly told me what to do anymore. I still need my parents for financial support and I always come to them for advice.

I have a much closer relationship with them now that I am 22 and in college because I feel like I can come to them in any situation and they will help me through it. I am openly able to talk to them about problems in relationships and classes, something I would have thought they would yell at me about before. I am not completely transitioned into adulthood but I am being treated like an adult much more than I was when I started college.