One of the main concepts I remember talking about in class was a concept by Arnold van Gennep, called the rites of passage. This concept is basically like a ritual or event that makes a person's transition to one status to another. So kind of like a celebration of a milestone in ones life. My rite of passage would definitely have to be my transition from high school graduation to college, primarily because that was a very stressful point in my life. I went through the three stages of passage, which were separation, liminal, and consummation. .
I was raised that after high school you have to go off to college. You couldn't really opt out of not going, mainly because my family puts academics on a very high pedestal. You were basically shamed if you didn't go to college because in my mother's opinion you would be letting down the family and past ancestors.
Our family, from what I understand, has generations on family members who attended college, so I guess it was only right to keep the tradition going. During graduation my family had flew in from different states just to see me walk across the stage to get my diploma in my cap and gown. It's like societies way of saying, good job; you are now accepted into our culture. It makes you feel like you belong and you are special for getting thus far. For me personally, it was more than feeling accepted, it was more like, "You are now entering the real would, where there is a higher expectation of you." The day of graduation I was in the separation phase of passage because I would no longer have to attend high school again. Thus during graduation I was in the liminal stage because I was officially a high school graduate but I had not fully transitioned into college yet. Then finally my acceptance letter form Indiana University came in the mail and weeks later we prepared for move in day, which was technically my finally stage of passage because I was officially a freshman in college.