As the only communication major in the lab, TMT was a new theory I did not know existed until I signed up to take the lab course and run the lab social media. This has provided me with the opportunity to post other lab members’ blog posts, and has given me the pleasure to learn more about TMT in the process and how it has impacted them in some way. So, based on what I have learned, it is now my turn!
When I think of how TMT applies to my life, I find myself thinking about my last year of college. When the pandemic hit around this time last year, I thought about all that had been taken away from me and from my college experience. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to friends I wouldn’t see again until fall semester, didn’t get to go to my sorority formal, and didn’t get to enjoy a beautiful day out on the quad one last time before going back home for the summer. Because of this, I have spent the last year or so creating a “Graduation Bucket List” of all of the things I wished to accomplish before graduating this May. On the surface, this bucket list was created simply to make the most of my last year and leave JMU after graduating without any regrets or feeling like I missed out on any college experiences. But, it is much more than that. Relating it to TMT, the theory tells us that to cope with our inevitable death, we do things to comfort ourselves, whether that be relying on religion and/or a belief in an afterlife, making connections and being part of something bigger than ourselves, living life to the fullest, or all of the above.
TMT explains the true reason why I made this bucket list; in an extreme example, if tomorrow I were to be diagnosed with terminal cancer and told I only have three months left to live, I would want to spend that time making the most out of my life. I would want to check off everything on my bucket list so that on my deathbed, I could reflect and say that there’s not a thing I missed out on and that I can look back with no regrets. While I am not terminally ill, nor on my deathbed, after I graduate JMU, I want to be able to reflect on my college years as being full of fun memories and some of the best years of my life.
Ultimately, the thought of not living life to the fullest is perhaps what scares me most about dying, and faith helps me cope with the rest. Whether or not I check everything off of my senior year bucket list will not matter in the grand scheme of things, but it helps me cope with the moment and the uncertainty of the future, so why not enjoy everything while I’m still here?
Katherine Weiss
Public Relations
Class of 2021