Ethan Persaud - College as a Journey

Throughout my blog, I have constantly connected things and reflected on my experience during this semester and my first year of college as a whole. This is because coming to college in it of itself was a journey to me. It was a huge deal and a massive change to my whole life, which you could say for everyone. How this connects to the class was how college forces a person to leave behind a place of identity and familiarity in order to grow. This immediately connected back to Campbell’s concept of the first call to action. For me, that call was the decision to choose Christopher Newport itself. At the time, I had no clue what college I wanted to choose and it felt like a gamble choosing CNU. It was far from home and nobody I knew was going there. It was a complete culture change from what I was used to at high school. It was a decision that felt uncertain and intimidating. Looking back, I realize that this was my own version of crossing the mythic threshold. Since arriving here, I would say I have gone through what Campbell said was the initiation phase. Adjusting to academic challenges, meeting new people, and learning how to function independently were all things I had to figure out. These moments haven’t always been easy, but they have been biotransformative in the sense that they have fundamentally changed the direction of my life. All of this has been for a good reason, everyday I learn more and more about the environment around me and about my own self. This course has helped me see that this growth requires that discomfort, that leaving a place of certainty is the first step toward discovering a deeper sense of self. I hope with that understanding I am more confident in the journey that I am on currently.


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