When I was sixteen, I made the transition from an online high school student to a college student. This transition differs from other’s, as generally people enter college as an adult, after completing high school. I, on the other hand, was transitioning from high school to college before getting a high school diploma, beginning in my junior year. Therefore, I would be completing high school and college at the same time. Moreover, I was also transitioning from an online environment to an in person one. I consider my experience of going to college to be my rite of passage, in which I am making the shift from high school and youth to adulthood. Once I finished my sophomore year at Internet Academy, I entered the first stage of my rite of passage: …show more content…
From the day of my first classes, I was integrated into the college environment and treated like an adult. Even though Running Start students like me are under not legal adults due to being under eighteen, we are treated the same as our adult classmates. We are completely responsible for our own education, including showing up for class and completing all work, without parental involvement. This adds to the significance of my transformation from a high school student to a college student. Like rites of passages from other cultures, such as the Kinaalá from Navajo culture, an important part of my transition was growing up and transitioning to an adult.
Interestingly, in a way, I transitioned from one liminal state to another by integrating into the Running Start program. While in the program, for example, I am a fulltime college student, but I will receive my high school diploma at the same time as my associates degree, rather than receiving it before. This sets me apart from other college students who have completed high school before beginning college. Consequently, I experience the concept of communitas, as Victor Turner called it, with other Running Start students as we are all equal and form a bond because of