We often go through life reminiscing about the core moments, thinking, “Wow, those were some fun times,” or “Why did I think that was a good idea?” Or, personally, I always question why I chose to do something and how that action dictates my future by mainly asking, “How was this significant to my life?” and “Was this just another ‘canon’ event?'” Søren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher and theologian, captures these thoughts perfectly: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”
The idea that we have to live our lives forward only to understand it backwards reassures us that we must keep living and experiencing whatever comes our way to see its purpose. Life doesn’t have a trailer, and it isn’t one of those interactive storytelling games where we can see what happens next after we choose. We can only learn what’s in our future by living through our days and looking back on what we can grasp from past choices. Through looking at our past, we can see the patterns, but this is only achieved through hindsight.
From a personal standpoint, as a first-generation Hispanic female college student, I think a lot about my interactions and events: did I say the right thing, am I getting along with these people, is this where I’m meant to be? Thinking that I can only learn and grow by walking forward in whatever situation I am put in keeps me going, thinking one day I will look back at this as one of the best moments in my life or a lesson that I needed.
This mindset also teaches us that we don’t need blind optimism moving forward, but rather courage and faith that whatever we choose to do — and what happens in front of us — has a purpose in shaping our character and our story. As we move through different moments in life, we might also stumble through times we don’t want to go through, but this mindset calls for the courage to stay persistent and trust that understanding will come later in our journey.
Having the ability to move forward during times of tension matters because, through experience, we can reflect and gain wisdom from whatever situation or circumstance we face. Tension also serves as humility. And when it comes to all first-years, we are all first-years; maybe some of us already knew people, or some people found it easy to transition to college, but we are all entering a new chapter in our lives, and none of us truly know what lies ahead.
From a learning standpoint, this mindset helps prevent the same issues from happening again because it allows us to reflect on what might have caused the issue and what we can do differently next time. It also creates movement in stages of life where we might feel stuck. If we constantly seek to learn or understand our future, we will freeze— questioning everything without understanding and learning from it first. Life doesn’t pause for you to figure it out; it just keeps moving. Especially on a college campus, where everything is fast-paced and involvement is encouraged, it’s hard to stay still without something new coming your way.
Universally, we are creatures meant to move and adapt to our circumstances and our environment. Although it is easy to stay still and feel comfortable in our habits or routines, we would never evolve or grow as humans—and might even regress—if we stayed stuck on what will happen instead of letting life unfold. As incoming college students, if we constantly try to guess what comes next, worry about what people will think of us, or fear trying something new, we would never grow. But by giving ourselves grace and understanding that there is nothing wrong with continuing to walk forward on this journey called life, we can eventually look back and be thankful for what makes us and our experiences.