Hey everybody! I made it back from Philmont alright (like a week ago but shhhh), and I had an awesome time and I can't wait until I go back! I'll probably talk about it more at some other time, but instead there's something else that I want to discuss.
Having graduated high school more than a month ago, I find myself in this awkward interstitial time. While, yes, I am technically a college student now because I have my ID (and that's what makes it official), I'm in this weird place, and it almost feels like solitary confinement, even though I know that it really actually isn't, yes I've read studies on it and how horrible it is, but I digress. Most of my close friends that are also my yearmates aren't people that I typically text or communicate with through social media, but since our schedules and responsibilities have it so that we can't hang out every day all day. Mostly because we'd probably run out of things to do very quickly. This absence of social communication could -obviously- be easily solved by me communicating with my friends that aren't my year mates. Except for the GAP.... and no, not the clothing retailer. This Gap that I speak of is something that I've just come up with and will now explain.
Normally, I could talk to my friends who were in younger grades of school because we were all in high school together, and so there was no barrier. Additionally, a majority of my friends that are still in high school are either in the marching band or the drama department, so one of the big things that we would normally talk about and the large focus of their life currently is an activity that I am no longer involved with, thus creating an awkward conversational Gap. Take, for example, my friend in marching band. She's really into band, and her new leadership position in the band has definitely made it an incredibly huge aspect of her life and her focus. Typically, we would hang out in band rehearsals, and all conversation and interaction would essentially revolve around marching band activities or related events. Now that I've graduated, we no longer hang out in those venues, and thus we no longer really talk. Never mind the fact that the year to year changes in the activity have already created a sort of alienating effect on the whole subject. So, I'll be bored or lonely, and I'll want to talk to someone, but I can't seem to talk to my band friend, because of this Gap. There's no current social event occurring to allow for non-planned interaction. To add to this, enough time has elapsed that at this point an attempt to establish a hang out or meet up would be something akin to "Oh my gosh I haven't seen you in forever, we need to get together!" which puts an unnecessarily awkward agenda into play. And besides all of this, what I am currently experiencing and the life events that I am going through are different enough that there really isn't a way for an empathetic interaction (i.e. we can't discuss how hard the music is for band, or how excited we are for the season, or things about next year in high school).
This also works for those friends that I have who are a year ahead of me, and have returned from their first year of life outside of college. Take for example a friend of mine. He and I were in several classes together, had many shared experiences, and were all in all fairly good friends. However, he went to college last year, and now we barely talk, and its not as if I don't want to converse with him, but there's this distinct distance that has been created, that until we meet again face to face organically, can't really be resolved.
Of course, I'm sure that you're saying to yourself (if you stuck with this post for this long, props by the way), "JD, what are you talking about? Just send them a message! Arrange a hangout! Geez!" You make a good point, that that might solve it, but there's something about a forced conversation that is imperative to remember: no one enjoys it. A forced conversation would more than likely increase the proverbial distance, and make future interaction even more difficult. Which would suck.
Well, that's what I've been thinking about for the past day or so. Thanks for sticking through with me while I'm Stuck in Summer. Get it? Stuck in Summer, like the title for the blog? Ha. Sometimes I make myself... really question my sense of humor. I'll catch y'all and on the flip side (but seriously, the flip side of what?)
DFTBA
-JD G.
Having graduated high school more than a month ago, I find myself in this awkward interstitial time. While, yes, I am technically a college student now because I have my ID (and that's what makes it official), I'm in this weird place, and it almost feels like solitary confinement, even though I know that it really actually isn't, yes I've read studies on it and how horrible it is, but I digress. Most of my close friends that are also my yearmates aren't people that I typically text or communicate with through social media, but since our schedules and responsibilities have it so that we can't hang out every day all day. Mostly because we'd probably run out of things to do very quickly. This absence of social communication could -obviously- be easily solved by me communicating with my friends that aren't my year mates. Except for the GAP.... and no, not the clothing retailer. This Gap that I speak of is something that I've just come up with and will now explain.
Normally, I could talk to my friends who were in younger grades of school because we were all in high school together, and so there was no barrier. Additionally, a majority of my friends that are still in high school are either in the marching band or the drama department, so one of the big things that we would normally talk about and the large focus of their life currently is an activity that I am no longer involved with, thus creating an awkward conversational Gap. Take, for example, my friend in marching band. She's really into band, and her new leadership position in the band has definitely made it an incredibly huge aspect of her life and her focus. Typically, we would hang out in band rehearsals, and all conversation and interaction would essentially revolve around marching band activities or related events. Now that I've graduated, we no longer hang out in those venues, and thus we no longer really talk. Never mind the fact that the year to year changes in the activity have already created a sort of alienating effect on the whole subject. So, I'll be bored or lonely, and I'll want to talk to someone, but I can't seem to talk to my band friend, because of this Gap. There's no current social event occurring to allow for non-planned interaction. To add to this, enough time has elapsed that at this point an attempt to establish a hang out or meet up would be something akin to "Oh my gosh I haven't seen you in forever, we need to get together!" which puts an unnecessarily awkward agenda into play. And besides all of this, what I am currently experiencing and the life events that I am going through are different enough that there really isn't a way for an empathetic interaction (i.e. we can't discuss how hard the music is for band, or how excited we are for the season, or things about next year in high school).
This also works for those friends that I have who are a year ahead of me, and have returned from their first year of life outside of college. Take for example a friend of mine. He and I were in several classes together, had many shared experiences, and were all in all fairly good friends. However, he went to college last year, and now we barely talk, and its not as if I don't want to converse with him, but there's this distinct distance that has been created, that until we meet again face to face organically, can't really be resolved.
Of course, I'm sure that you're saying to yourself (if you stuck with this post for this long, props by the way), "JD, what are you talking about? Just send them a message! Arrange a hangout! Geez!" You make a good point, that that might solve it, but there's something about a forced conversation that is imperative to remember: no one enjoys it. A forced conversation would more than likely increase the proverbial distance, and make future interaction even more difficult. Which would suck.
Well, that's what I've been thinking about for the past day or so. Thanks for sticking through with me while I'm Stuck in Summer. Get it? Stuck in Summer, like the title for the blog? Ha. Sometimes I make myself... really question my sense of humor. I'll catch y'all and on the flip side (but seriously, the flip side of what?)
DFTBA
-JD G.
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