Tips for adjusting to summer life

“Not in his goals but in his transition, man is great.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Change. Transition. Loss. Growth. This time of the year we are naturally stretched and challenged to embrace change, to endure the transition from spending the year on campus and adjust to summer plans of working, traveling home, going to camp and many other bullets on the summer to-do list.

While the departure from campus may have arrived early this year, the final week of school still holds transition. School ends and something must come next, right? What is it? When options for leaving home are slim to none, what will follow? Navigating this transition may be one of the most challenging you’ve experienced in a while, as the pandemic hangs over future unknowns. Acknowledging feelings of loss and grief in the midst of transition is an important part of accepting the changes and developing resiliency for future challenges. Whether you need to talk with a good friend about your fears of the unknown, or journal the sadness you feel, finding healthy ways to express the emotions that transition brings will help you navigate through it.

How well we process a transition is also based on stress response, as both positive and negative transitions hold their own share of stress. However, we can utilize stress to motive and help us transform. Rather than only allowing stressors of transition develop into thoughts of fear, uncertainty, distrust, or rejection, we can shift our perspective and use the stress to observe our behaviors, choices, and create new outcomes. Giving ourselves compassion for the experience and stepping into the changes rather than avoiding them can help us make the transition a time of growth and opportunity.

Here are some ideas to celebrate the end of a strange and unexpected semester, to honor the change and the transition as you set your sights on a future filled with hope and excitement:

• Construct a collage with photos or images that capture your semester, using magazines or a photo collage app!
• Host a virtual party for you and your friends, asking them to contribute ideas to the playlist of background music, with games and laughter planned.
• Write a letter to a friend or professor to bring closure to your experience at Concordia, remembering your time together and fun that was shared.
• Develop a plan for the summer, to include goals you may want to achieve or ways that you will stay connected to your friends.

Embrace the change. Find ways to grow and learn more about yourself through the transition, and don’t be afraid to look forward to the future! A very special congratulations to our 2020 graduates!

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln