think outside the microcosm…

Over winter break, I got to visit my mom & close friends in NC, eat & hang out at my favorite places there, go to a few Canes games, and relax by the gulf coast back in Florida. General sleeping in and having minimal responsibility was also pretty awesome, because it gave me time to watch the first 6 seasons of HIMYM :) As I mentally prepped to return to Gville to face my 2^nd semester of grad school, I had some realizations.

Certain aspects of grad school have been trickier than others, all of which stem from returning to college life after being out in the real world for 5 years. Earlier this semester, Soo provided great insight, as always, when she reminded me that, in her words, “The microcosm that exists within a school environment is ENTIRELY different from real life situations.” This return to NC made that realization super clear to me.

As I met up with different friends, I realized that real life (v grad school) gave me different social groups- work friends from previous jobs, neighbor friends, friends through friends, people from many different aspects of my 4 years in NC. In Gainesville, the majority of my social life somehow connects back to my program, or at least UF. Completely different from real life. Like Soo said, microcosm.

The cohort model is one of my favorite aspects of my program. It’s nice that almost anyone I talk to in a social or professional setting at UF understands our program and at least has some idea of what our experience in it is like. I’m a complete open book, so it’s not that I’ve hidden aspects of my life from anyone in NC, but most of my friends there know me in different contexts and don’t quite have the whole picture (aside from a few).

I’ve realized the pros in the separation, though, too. It’s nice to have people from a completely different area of life who you can step back with when you need a break from the sameness. When mostly around people who are sharing a common experience, it’s hard to remove that from your interactions. It was reassuring in a way to experience that difference when I hung out with UF friends in NC during the break. In fact, I don’t remember referencing UF, grad school, or anything about that part of life during that visit much at all (outside of sports, of course). That and thinking of which NC friends I met up with made me realize that, once out of the context in which you met, friendships that will last will change as life does.

I know that outside of Gainesville, life is different. I’ve done this transition before. But while living in the microcosm, I’ll try to look at things differently. I’ll look at these relationships as how they can be after we’re all outside of UF and approach them in that context so they have more potential than just considering them as parts of grad school.