Coming Of Age Journey Analysis
The coming of age journey is a journey just about everyone struggles with. During this journey, life often presents you with a moment and/or moments that challenge you to break out of your comfort zone. In many cases, the impact of these experiences can help contribute to newfound interests, hobbies, and values that you never thought you’d have and ultimately change who you are as a person forever and in some cases make that journey a little bit easier to bare.
For me, that moment was attending my first Catholic youth conference. It was the summer of 2013 when I was asked to attend my first Steubenville Catholic Youth Conference at Franciscan University in Ohio. At first this seemed a little unusual, for I had not come from an extremely religious
family. I was fifteen years old and just starting to adjust to the idea of attending a Roman Catholic school, where everyone believed faith was the basis for everything in life. After reluctantly waiting nearly the entire summer, the departure date came on a Friday morning in the middle of August. Several of my friends and I met in the school parking lot and packed up the car for what was supposed to be an eight hour car ride, however it quickly became a series of pit stops and bathroom breaks that lasted nearly twelve hours. During the perpetual road trip, my friends and I were able to share our preconceived ideas about what this “Jesus camp” was going to offer. Little did we know, the spiritual journey we were about to embark on would forever change our lives.
Upon arriving, and continuing for three straight days, the conference provided a never ending itinerary of things to do. My friends and I were constantly participating in dynamic workshops or contributing to impactful lectures about how today's youth can change the world. It was almost hard to find time to sit and reflect about the experiences we were encountering. Although I was at first reluctant, I finally found myself completely immersed in the culture of the conference. The transition at first was alarming, as I had never opened myself up to something on that emotional level ever before in my life. Although I felt more spiritually connected to myself and those around me than ever before, there was a lingering thought in my mind that I knew as soon as I were to leave, the messages that were instilled in me would soon be replaced by the overwhelming characteristics of being a teenager in today’s society, and that was terrifying. I did not want to lose what I had worked so hard to accomplish.
Fortunately, when finally returning home I could sense I had changed. My perspectives on what I used to think was “cool” was no longer “cool” to me anymore. I had grown and established stronger values that ultimately shaped who I have become as a person today. I came to the realization that even though Steubenville was at first strange and unusual to me, it was in a way a catalyst for a successful transition into young adulthood.
For me, that moment was attending my first Catholic youth conference. It was the summer of 2013 when I was asked to attend my first Steubenville Catholic Youth Conference at Franciscan University in Ohio. At first this seemed a little unusual, for I had not come from an extremely religious
family. I was fifteen years old and just starting to adjust to the idea of attending a Roman Catholic school, where everyone believed faith was the basis for everything in life. After reluctantly waiting nearly the entire summer, the departure date came on a Friday morning in the middle of August. Several of my friends and I met in the school parking lot and packed up the car for what was supposed to be an eight hour car ride, however it quickly became a series of pit stops and bathroom breaks that lasted nearly twelve hours. During the perpetual road trip, my friends and I were able to share our preconceived ideas about what this “Jesus camp” was going to offer. Little did we know, the spiritual journey we were about to embark on would forever change our lives.
Upon arriving, and continuing for three straight days, the conference provided a never ending itinerary of things to do. My friends and I were constantly participating in dynamic workshops or contributing to impactful lectures about how today's youth can change the world. It was almost hard to find time to sit and reflect about the experiences we were encountering. Although I was at first reluctant, I finally found myself completely immersed in the culture of the conference. The transition at first was alarming, as I had never opened myself up to something on that emotional level ever before in my life. Although I felt more spiritually connected to myself and those around me than ever before, there was a lingering thought in my mind that I knew as soon as I were to leave, the messages that were instilled in me would soon be replaced by the overwhelming characteristics of being a teenager in today’s society, and that was terrifying. I did not want to lose what I had worked so hard to accomplish.
Fortunately, when finally returning home I could sense I had changed. My perspectives on what I used to think was “cool” was no longer “cool” to me anymore. I had grown and established stronger values that ultimately shaped who I have become as a person today. I came to the realization that even though Steubenville was at first strange and unusual to me, it was in a way a catalyst for a successful transition into young adulthood.