As classes begin, students see the semester flash before their eyes as they review syllabus after syllabus. In this moment, final exams and papers rear their ugly heads, leaving little room for the light at the end of the tunnel.

During this period, which Urban Dictionary, an online encyclopedia of slang, dubs “syllabus shock,” it is easy to lose purpose. The semester, and maybe university as a whole, can quickly be reduced to grades and hours of work.

As an undecided student who will soon need to select a major, I am constantly asked about my purpose or “why,” whether internally or externally. Most of the time I let this question roll off, saving it for another day, if that day ever comes.

day ever comes. I find the act of declaring a statement of purpose terrifying. As a person of absolutes, I often believe that once my “why” is declared, I am left with no other option but to pursue it to the ends of the earth.

That being said, without a clear purpose, I often feel as if I am running in circles. As I seek to find a statement of purpose that works for me, I hope to find common ground between a concrete statement of purpose that attempts to predict the future and one that gives meaning and guidance while leaving room for reexamination.

purpose, we should view ourselves not just as “students” in purgatory paying our dues before we are allowed to enter the “real world.” Instead, we should see ourselves as individuals experiencing the world just as much as everyone else.

As much as it is made out to be, life does not begin and end with a career. We are just as engaged in the world as those outside of university.

When establishing a “why” during this time, we should look outside of our identities as just students. Now, in the midst of “syllabus shock,” is a great time to reflect on ourselves as individuals of the world, seeking to see past the grades, degrees, and simply tangible things we may be striving towards.

These declarations should push us outside of our comfort zones. We are more than students, student-athletes, future laborers, and so on. These statements can be ways to reflect on what we are grateful for, what our surroundings have to offer, what we have to return, and what type of person we are apart from broad labels like those above.

These labels can potentially be limiting factors in finding our “why.” We may feel inclined to create a purpose that fulfills the identity we aspire to achieve, one that may not be honest to our true selves.

Exploring identity should be uncomfortable because it calls for deep introspection, which may uncover truths that we are not expecting to find. Perhaps we are not the person we think we are. Perhaps what we have been working toward for so long has little to no presence with our “why.”

Doing this at the beginning of the semester can help reorient us away from the coming onslaught of papers and exams and toward the individuals we are within the world. Acknowledge Spring Semester 2019 and the place it has in your life while keeping in mind that it is not the determining factor of who we are this spring. Carry on as individuals seeking to find a broader role in this world, supporting one another along the way.