THE’high school exam it is much more than a simple one school test: for many boys and girls, it represents a real passage from a phase of life to another. The anthropologist Arnold Van Gennepalready at the beginning of the 900spoke of the rites of passage As special moments that mark important changes, such as the end of childhood or entry into adulthood. According to him, these passages are made up of three phases: leave something behind (in this case the school); You cross a moment of trial (theexamination); and you enter a new phase (that of University and non -university choices, of responsibility and the future).
The high school exam: a phase full of changes
In the months preceding maturity, students live a particular timesuspended. They are no simpler “students”, but they are not yet fully adults. It is one waiting phaseOf requestsOf emotions contrasting. The anthropologist Victor Turner called this phase “Liminal”: it is a time when you are in the middle ofbetween what you were and what you are going to become. In this intermediate spacethe certainties begin to falter, the usual roles are questioned, and you start looking at the future with new eyes. This “Middle area” It can be stressful: theperformance anxietythe fear of failingThe Weight of expectations they become daily companions. But at the same time, precisely because everything seems in motion, it is also a Extraordinarily fertile period.
In this phase we grow, often without realizing it. They start doing Autonomous choicesdevelops critical senseyou ask yourself who you are and who you want to become and the maturityin this sense, is not just an exam: it is an opportunity to take self -awareness. Turner spoke of this phase as a “powerful” timein which everything is possible. In many cultures, The rites of passage predict symbolic tests to be overcome, precisely because they test the courage, responsibility and the ability to face The unknown.
A collective experience
Even if the high school exam remains individual, it is aStrongly shared experience. The weeks that precede it are often characterized by group study, night marathons on booksnotes exchanged at the last minute and encouraging messages sent before the tests. In groups, we exchange advice and they do promises for the “after”. At that time a sense of complicity Very strong between classmates, even between those who had had more superficial relationships up to that moment.
Turner said in these Moments of passage one creates one species of “temporary community”who recognize themselves as travel companions. It is one solidarity which arises precisely from the sharing of something important, one spontaneous understanding which unites people beyond the differences. These tiesborn in the pressure and waiting, often remain impressed in memory even after many years. This is why many adult they remember the maturity not so much for the contents of the tests, but for the Emotions lived together: The gaze of understanding with a partner, the liberating embrace after oral, the feeling of being part of something that goes beyond the school.
What the high school exam represents
But today, the maturity exam is Really a passage towards adulthood? In the past, ending the school often meant starting to work, becoming economically independent, perhaps leaving the house or making important decisions about one’s life. Today, however, for many young people this moment does not coincide with a real entry into adulthood. The world of work is uncertain, the increasingly longer and often full of obstacles university paths, and building a stable future is really difficult. In this context, maturity risks lose its transformative power And to remain an “empty” ritual, more symbolic than concrete.
