September and transitions at Momentum learning centre

We all know, whether we have children or not, that September brings many things: Children going back to school, young ones starting school for the first time, new routines, early mornings, scrambling for school lunches first thing in the morning, new teachers, new subjects, new friends and new knowledge!  Parents too must get used to this new routine of getting the kids off to school while balancing their work and home life.  Even college students experience a few weeks of ambiguity, as they get used to their new roommates, teachers and course expectations.  In all, September is a month of adjustments and transition.

I used to think, that after grade 12 and six years in university, coping with that dreaded excitement-nervousness-unknown, that once I was part of 'regular working society' September would come and go without a hitch and I would sail smoothly through those tumultuous back-to-school weeks. 

Near the end of August, a friend (going to college for the first time) posted that she was excited and was homesick all at once.  This immediately brought back memories of those many Septembers when I had just packed up all my belongings into the back of the car to move them to the dorm/apartment/shared-living-space for another university year.  This comment also made me realise that although I am not going back to school, and haven’t done so for many years, I too am still affected by this season.  The more I reflected, I realised that my recent feelings of being unsettled, restless and disconnected were not caused by something new, but the usual feelings around this time of the year.  These were the same feelings that many other people are experiencing, all caused by Transition. 

The dictionary showed two definitions of Transition, one applying to the regular use of the word, and one applying to music.  This certainly helps to explain why we react the way we do!

Tran·si·tion [tran-zish-uh-n]  noun

1. movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change: the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

2. Music.

a.a passing from one key to another; modulation.

b.a brief modulation; a modulation used in passing.

c.a sudden, unprepared modulation.