Liminal Space

I've been done with classes since Thursday and I'm graduating in less than 12 hours. These past 48 ish hours have been what our school calls the "liminal space," or the time between when we graduate Andover officially and when we move onto our next phases of life. 

Caught in the liminal space is surreal. Truly. Although I planned AP prep into the liminal space, I had no time to do any of it. Time has flown in the last two days. I've constantly had an event to go to or something to do.

But this liminal space is also surreal in the sense that before closure really becomes closure, we are given no choice but to reflect. On Thursday night after classes, we had community convocation or Senior-fac. It was a picnic where students asked faculty to whom they were close. This tradition represents the celebration of graduation between the faculty and students. Last night, we had a prom. Prom is a moment to spend with our friends, a time to reflect on our Andover moments together, or rather, a celebration with our friends. Tonight, we had baccalaureate, which was a spiritual moment to be in solitude with our class. The chapel lights were turned off and each senior held a lit candle up in the air.  This was a moment to celebrate and sit with ourselves. And tomorrow morning at 9 AM, we will have graduation. This is a moment to celebrate our completion of high school with our families. 

All of these events take place in the span of a liminal space of around 72 hours. It amazes me how many closures have happened so far, with our teachers, friends, ourselves, and tomorrow, with our families. And I'm so grateful to be spending time with important people in my life during this liminal space. Frankly, I'm a mix of excited and scared of what will happen once I exit this space to continue on with the next chapter of my life and in a way, I've found comfort in the liminal space, knowing that I'm on my way to completing something without having to worry about the next. But regardless of all the mixed emotions, I'm feeling right now, I must say one thing: thank you, Andover. For the highs and lows and for showing me what it means to work hard.