#last term

Tetsuo is all ready to start the new term.  He isn’t going to let a little unexpected belly fat get in his way of getting his degree.

Tetsuo shows off his Buddha belly to Luna.

The legal age of adulthood in the U.S. is eighteen-- except for children that are intertwined with crime, who suddenly find themselves elevated to adult status for the privilege of capital punishment. But the majority of eighteen-year-old “adults” are still seniors in high school, still -teen categorized and therefore, still cocooned in naivety;  post-secondary plans come with far too much freedom at once to be anything but reckless with it. So how do we cross the bridge from sweet, innocent childhood to depressingly alone and jarringly aware adulthood?

Rite of Passage, as cliche as it sounds, is paramount to maturity. It is not the act of growing up, but the act of choosing to begin the descent into adulthood. There are multiple stages of becoming an adult, it isn’t some magic, dragon slaying fairy tale where you complete the quest and poof! You are an adult now. It’s not always a universal choice--- or even a conscious one. Sometimes, uncontrollable circumstances violently tear people from the womb of childhood all too fast. Sometimes, despite having every resource afforded, a person never grows up. Sometimes, the world is fair enough to allow a person the chance to grow up comfortably, but that is a rare case of fortune.

And how do you know what and when your rite of passage is? It isn’t something you mark in big, bold red marker on your calendar. It can’t be valued either; rite of passage is one of those profound hindsights you can’t see until it’s behind you. As enigmatic storyteller Bill Harris has put it in “The Fight,”: “They are only cruel punishment. And they just may be too much.” Harris uses these words to describe an unforgiving beat down he helplessly witnessed between two friends in his high school years. Harris’ friend decided that a fight was what made him a “man” or not. Not the outcome of the fight, but the fight itself. Harris didn’t know he’d still be thinking about it now, in 2017. And he wasn’t the one fighting. In fact, Harris encouraged his friend to back down. But rite of passage isn’t about the actual event, whatever it may be. Yes, driving and going to prom can be considered rites of passage, although not the kind that stimulates and enables personal growth. Classify them as cultural milestones, like southern debutantes waiting to be announced into the right societal circles before being considered “grown up.” That doesn’t help you decide who you are. That just decides how old you are. True rite of passage is a challenge, whether internal or external, that invokes contemplation, risk and giving up your inner childhood sanctum.

Rite of passage is the deciding force in transitioning into adulthood, and is specifically unique per person, like a soul or personality. Everyone loses something in the shift, be it fame or blood shed. You cannot cling to the past and be expect to be accepted into the future. Premature dreams absolutely must burn, morals shift uncomfortably, and lies be brought to justice. Rite of passage is what teaches people that the world is far too enormous to be aware of everyone living in it as an individual, that inexplicable evil exists, and that sometimes trying your best just won’t fix anything. The beauty of it is that rite of passage is neither chaotic nor good, it is a neutral force posed to us. The actual learning of universal truths and growth is done by us, once we choose how to react to the situation. The right to adulthood is an equal opportunity, but the choice to accept passage is yours.  There is no ultrasound advanced enough yet to tell a person what type of future they are having. The only way to really know if your grown up is to just go ahead and do it long enough to notice. When your time comes, will you graciously take the offer? Or has it already passed you?

In this upcoming term, a new set of challenges and tasks await. Our focus shifts towards crafting a comprehensive report, a foundational support for our thesis. This report will encapsulate both theoretical underpinnings and graphical content, serving as a holistic representation of our project.

In tandem with the report, we're also tasked with curating a blog, a dynamic medium to communicate our project's journey and insights.