In Love With the In-Between

There is something so special, yet emotional, about the end of summer. We get caught up in thinking about what the new semester will bring, meeting new people, and getting back into a routine. But once that excitement wears off, there can be this strange feeling of emptiness. College enhances this feeling because we are often far away from where we feel the most comfortable and safe. 

Perhaps, it is homesickness. Perhaps, it is about realizing that the sunny days are fading. Or perhaps, it is just the unusual feeling of being somewhere in between. We are no longer who we used to be, but we do not know yet who we will become.

ROMANTICIZING the ordinary

There is something truly amazing about choosing to see the good in what you have right now. Learning that it is in fact quite chic to study, meet new people, go to a new restaurant, dress up for no special occasion, and to take an extra long route home.

However, romanticizing college does not mean it is perfect.

There will be hard days amidst the fun, and assignments that make you question everything. Maybe some sleepless nights and friendships that shift. Unfortunately, there will be days when all you want to do is go back to your childhood bedroom and use the vanity that helped you get ready for your first high school dance. 

But maybe these emotions belong here, too.

Memories are being made

There is something freeing knowing that you can make the days your own. That you get to pick which traditions are yours, which coffee shop becomes your go-to, which corners of the campus become home, and especially who your people are.

And this might be what romanticizing college is all about.

As we are ending another summer and re-starting our studies, let’s not view this change as an ending. Perhaps we should accept that the invitation lies in the spaces in-between; embracing who we leave behind while giving ourselves over to who we might become.

There is something very special about not being sure of everything.

There is beauty in the questions we haven’t answered, in our new routines, in the friendships we are forming, and in the homesickness of the places that aren’t yet our homes. There is beauty in the transition of this season, even if we long to hang on to it.

One day, these little ordinary moments will be what we remember: staying up all night, laughing until we couldn’t anymore; the matcha that actually tasted like grass and not blueberries; the jokes only we understood because they were our own; and definitely the friends we met by accident, but somehow can’t imagine life without.

Not every day needs to be amazing. Not every second needs to be perfect. Sometimes, the beauty of college is in understanding that you’re going through a season of your life that will never come again.

Perhaps we spend too much time waiting for the future, the next semester, our next love, the next success, or even the next version of ourselves. However, there is something magical about the in-between, which is the uncertainty of knowing what will happen next in your life, enjoying its unpredictability, and learning how to embrace wherever you are instead of always waiting to get to wherever you’re headed.

Perhaps this is what romanticizing college means: not making each second flawless, but rather, taking them for what they are.

To be in love with the in-between.

• growth
• in-between
• life
• mental health
• Romanticize