Hope & Transition: How to Thrive in a World of Constant Change

Abstract

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus has been quoted as saying “change is the only constant in life.” The place in our life when this change is most apparent is during university/college years. Young people are in the midst of coming of age. They are leaving the safety of school and/or home and walking into a world of academia that teaches content, but also challenges meaning schemes and bias. Something students may not have expected.

The facilitator is the author of an upcoming book Thriving in Chaos: How to Find Hope and Purpose in a World of Constant Change and a therapist in private practice. After having spent 20 years in post-secondary education, many of her clients are university-aged students dealing with anxiety and depression as they struggle to find hope, meaning and purpose in what they are doing day-to-day. Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose (or what‘s the point)? These are the existential questions many of us have struggled with in our university years.

Youth today are growing up in a world that changes faster than it ever has before. Their personal and professional growth does not wait until graduation. How do we, as educators and administrators, structure the learning environment so this growth is possible? In order to serve them, we must reflect on our own bias about hope, healing, and personal growth. It is part of the on-going work of those of us called to work in academia.