Do you fellow students know that when you walk through the city and hang on the branches of the bare trees, “Do you remember?” You hear this whisper at the end of every era, but the end of the course seems particularly bittersweet to me.
When you still have one leg at university but want to take the step into real life with the other.
Of course, this is a leap into the unknown.
But the biggest challenge is saying goodbye to a certain way of being young.
How monumental, life-changing, unbelievable it was to turn up somewhere in a new city after graduating from high school! Run your own household for the first time. Far away from the parents' caution, to have control over their own life, to owe no one an explanation. What an adventure. Move into a shared apartment with strangers and then become friends. And then sprint to lectures because you messed up in the kitchen. Procrastinating together, learning, despairing, swearing to each other that the next time we will start on time. Everyone has time, nobody has money, so buy a warm crate of beer with the last ten euros and toast to deaf neighbors. And then we'll see how things continue tomorrow. That is freedom!
And then it seems like you've just blinked and suddenly you've grown up.
In any case, so grown up that you can't really be part of this time anymore.
That you just don't fit into this lifestyle anymore.
Over the years, not only do people's facial features change, but also their priorities.
Because you have a steady relationship and all of a sudden you want to build a life together instead of just being caught off guard by this one.
Because you have to get up at seven for a five-day week.
Because you have to plan your vacation instead of just getting on the train and driving into the unknown.
Little by little, there are the new rules that you set yourself when you are forced to take life a little more seriously.
What an outrageous meanness.
Are we getting old?
In the end, we simply piss us off the freedom we have gained. This is how the adult world gets it: in time, all by itself. You probably know how it feels when friends eventually disperse and each go their own way. The move-in parties become farewell parties. It feels different to sneak out onto the forbidden roof terrace together at night, doesn't it? When you know that you might be standing there together for the last time. And one has become quieter. Do you know that? Do you understand why it feels bad to admit that? It's like admitting that the noisy times are over. Even that of all the thousands of crazy things you still wanted to experience, maybe you actually managed three. And the question is already in the room:If that was the time when you could be wild and crazy and then calm down afterwards, did I use it or did I waste it? Are we getting old?
When you walk past all the memories in your city, do you feel a longing for the good old days?
I feel no longing when I think back on her, only joy because I was so happy.
And a little sadness because I realize that I have to say goodbye to something beautiful that I no longer fit into.
I appeal to all students, also and especially in Corona times: Enjoy this unique, wild, crazy time and experience your own stories!
Pave your city with a thousand memories and forgive us graduates for our melancholy.
Maike Weisenburger (27 years old) is currently writing her master's thesis in medieval studies and was horrified that the course would be over afterwards. Invites all the ignorant to join in, who do not understand their enthusiasm for medieval literature.