Final days as a Student – Perhaps

Over the last four sections, we have slowly but surely navigated to the phase where emotions overflow, some new routes must be identified to traverse forward, skills must be sharpened, brand values must be strong, knowledge will be tested, excitement over sharepening skills further or perhaps elation over a completely independent phase that is about to follow settles in. The final stages of University is where one gets tested the most, and unlike the Transition or the University phase, the final stages (the last 18 months) are very crucial in determining how the path ahead treats one.

Freedom lay ahead

A stage that allows you to:

• Choose how one wants the future to look like
• Navigate it at the pace one likes
• Decide if one wants to prolong the university student days by specialising in a favourite area/domain
• Provide platform for others to excel

The relationships built so far, provide experiences and lessons in how to create new relationships and maintain them. Emphasis within this stage is more on demonstration of skill and testing of one’s claims/achievements for authenticity. Quite a lot of effort must be made to ensure communication skills have been well developed. However, it might seem until now that the stage is more about consolidation when it actually is about pushing forward with more thrust and energy than ever before.

Identify

The College Kid – Reckless or Wreckless

One has come a long way since walking into a school environment for the first time by the moment one realizes we are quite a way into the University/College phase. The mental fluctuations one has gone through in making choices until now seem to have paid off, stability starts to appear, new avenues start to open up, confidence starts to grow with every passing moment, anger and angst seem to be unnecessary most of the time, appreciation of our actions seem to reach us effortlessly, and yet the human satiation for more drives us towards greed. Certain relationships formed for no reason during our early school life seem to hold more value now, and certain relationships that have been resurfacing seem to be more necessary than ever before to tread on. Building up of a support system is the most important aspect of this phase. “Why?”, one might ask. Simple answer: The most pressure free time after Primary school is available, and resources are lying around to be discovered and explored.

After we are through the thrills of entering university in the Transition phase, a comparatively sedate time lay ahead of one. That said, obstacles will come without warning and leave little time for a preparation, and sometimes could demand immediate actions. Redundancy planning is necessary to ensure fallbacks exist. Focus must be more towards the floor below us rather than the open skies above us.

A Major step – The transition phase

School is often the golden age of any person’s student life. A lot can be taken out from the Middle School & High School phases of schooling, sometimes more than what can transpire over all other phases of life combined. The two phases are where we gather ourselves irrespective of results, learn to stand up for others in dire situations (differentiating between right or wrong reasons comes later parts of life). As one draws to the end of school life, the certainties that once were guaranteed no longer seem existent and feel to be only present in the fiction novels. The cloak of invincibility that seemed to be always wrapped around you has gone missing. One suddenly notices as lot more people fighting for the same thing/aspect/aspiration you wish for. The switch from being a minor, dependent on all elders for everything starting from opening a bank account to taking a ride now changes. With turning 18, and becoming a young, budding adult, many of these decisions can be made more independently and without seeking approval of as many people as earlier. However, just like some typical areas to focus on exist in Middle School and in High School, they are ever more crucial in this phase.

Once in a lifetime experience

High School Teen who is aware but not afraid of taking a risk

Middle school, as we saw in the previous section is always a very interesting phase of everyone’s life. A phase that has no clear influence on the heading, but definitely paves some way into basic skills and character traits that form one’s foundations for later phases of life. You can read more about that through the link: Middle School

When a student passes out of middle school and is about to enter High-school, the nerves are slightly tickled for a couple of reasons at the least. Firstly, a growing sense of finally being a senior at school, and no longer take instructions from other students. Secondly, the overwhelming nature of the responsibilities the society puts on every individual’s performance in high-school. We often hear people saying that high-school marks will define how good a college life one can get. Enough of a rosy picture for every student to fall for. However, I think the age of elders fooling a young student in school with this quip has long passed by, and the ball is now in their court, thanks to the advancements in WWW (almost no longer www but www3 😯), and advent of Social Media in day to day lives. Not every student though is oblivious to social pressure, which is why great care must be taken to isolate the kid from any such pressure. Parents trying to isolate kids often fall into this trap themselves thanks to incentives for good performance of kids in their organisations, and events to award stand-out performances in front of other colleagues – A so called Status Symbol within the organisation.

A Unique Phase

The Middle School kid who is curious and free-spirited

School is definitely one of the most memorable phases of any person’s life. The phase where we make the majority of our true friends who have no basis of caste or creed or race or societal standing or the money we have or what we want to become. Most of the friends groups are formed on the basis of mutual trust, and support they offer to each other in trivial situations present in everyday lower school or middle school. Many of these groups are so diversified that no two friends from a group are in the same profession after 20 years (not that I deny that some groups have the entire group in the same profession and sometimes even the same organisation). According to me, Friendships formed in school are the purest relationships that get formed over anyone’s lifetimes. A kid currently in middle school who is interested in going to school everyday is perhaps more focussed on meeting their friends in an environment that allows them to discuss, play, learn playfully, understand gleefully, fail carelessly (without any pressure of consequences), and get closer to one another.

The middle school going kid has one of the least worries in the world apart from those in lower school & kindergarten. During this phase of a kid’s life, the time is more for identification rather than forming any molds or prepare a cast to pour them into. However, that said, there are definitely a few areas that can be identified in this phase: