Answering Questions

You take your usual seat next to Vishal, who gives you a wide grin.

“You know how the prof said we had to participate in some experiments? I found one that fits our tastes.”

“Oh yeah, what is it?”

“I’ll text you the details tonight. But it looks fun,” he says, giving you a mysterious grin.

“Why not just spill the beans now?”

“I wanted to give you a chance to brush up on our notes before class. You know, warm up for the prof’s questions. That was how you were planning to get Sarah’s attention, right?”

“Oh yeah,” you mutter, “that’s right.”

You pull out your notes, hurriedly going over the readings that you and Vishal tackled together. There was a lot of content, and you’re definitely not going to be able to get through it all in the few minutes before class begins. Nevertheless, you quickly flip through the pages, refreshing yourself while Vishal kicks back and texts his girlfriend, a silly smile crossing his face from time to time.

“Ahem.” The professor clears his throat, getting the attention of the class. “Quite a lot of readings to parse, as per usual. Let’s start with the Erikson. Who can tell me the two stages of psychosocial development you lot are going through right now, and let’s hear what you think unifies them.”

Your hand shoots up, along with a dozen others in the room. Competition is fierce, but the professor locks eyes with you, calling your name.

“We’re about 18-22 here, which places us between two psychosocial crises. The teenage one focuses on Identity against Role Confusion, while the young adult one focuses on Intimacy against Isolation.” So far so good, but this is just simple regurgitation.

“What’s interesting here is how they approach the problem of relationships—specifically romantic relationships—from different angles. The so-called identity crises that one faces in their teenage years is also a question of sexual identity. It’s about figuring out ‘who I want to get with,’ to put it crudely. There’s a definite focus on the physical aspect of a relationship.

“On the other hand, the question that one faces in young adulthood is characterised by Erikson as one that is fundamentally about love. This intimacy that he speaks of is emotional, and in some sense, it requires an identity to build off of. It’s the other half of a relationship, but I guess I couldn’t tell you much about it, since according to Erikson, I haven’t lived through it myself yet.”

You get a couple chuckles at that, Sarah included, while most of the other students nod along. This is promising.

“A comprehensive answer, but be more concise in the future,” the professor says. “But thank you for opening up the class. We see that with this lens of psychosocial crises to work through, Erikson fundamentally imposes a structural…”

The class goes on much as you’d expect, with plenty of questions fired across the room. You have your hand up more often than not, but only get another chance to speak before the end of class. You keep your second answer shorter and more precise, and the professor seems to appreciate the effort. Sarah, too, seems to have taken note, and she turns around from her seat in the front row to watch you answer the question, something that she hardly does for anyone else.

Sarah +10