Meaning: What It Means to Me

May 4, 2026

Writer:  Claudia Hurst

Editor: Emma Minock

One of my favorite parts of my Michigan education has been the creative freedom I have explored through my political science and English studies. While I like to think I am constantly reflecting on the world around me, these disciplines have shown me how widely shared those reflections are, captured by writers and echoed by readers again and again.

I felt this especially last semester when I took the English course “A Meaningful Life.” This class explored literature across centuries, tracing how people have defined meaning over time. I observed characters expecting to find meaning through grand and epic pursuits, and eventually realized that this definition of meaning was misplaced. Instead, meaning emerged through the small, routine, and seemingly insignificant moments of everyday life. This realization resonated deeply with me, as it closely mirrors the universal nature of human experience.

Characters of 18th-century literature and real people alike share the urge to focus on the big milestones. Through the lens of a U-M college student, I remember imagining my college experience from the 7th floor of South Quad. I pictured the big events—declaring my major, joining a sorority, and winning the Natty at the Big House. I visualized the expected milestones of a quintessential college experience. Upon reflection, my college experience has been filled with these anticipated highlights, but those are not what have made these past four years so meaningful.

The small moments—walking into constant conversation at the kitchen table of my senior home, watching the sun peek through the trees on my favorite Burns Park running route, interacting with the random characters and campus celebrities I adopt for the semester, indecisively sampling far more flavors than socially acceptable at Blank Slate—are what I will miss most. I feel lucky to have enjoyed the beauty of both the big and the small moments during my time at Michigan, but similar to my literary counterparts, I challenge the expectation that meaning is derived from the big experiences. 

I have always found that the big experiences feel like a culmination—a climax or the finale. Focusing on these events feels like a desire to skip ahead. To me, the best part has never been the end where everything seemingly falls into place, but the present: the small joys, the everyday moments, the journey itself. While big milestones are often those we have been conditioned to anticipate, the small moments are unique to us; in these smaller moments, we experience our own personal joys.

Part of this realization is understanding that meaning is ours to define. It is not something that is out there for us to stumble upon; it is projected by the interpreter. There is relief and freedom in this discovery, realizing that we are not bound by any external definition of value, but instead we are the ones who determine what fulfillment means for ourselves. We do not need our names to be remembered to have lived a meaningful life.

As I look ahead to the big milestone I am quickly approaching, I find myself anticipating the new experiences this next phase of life will bring. I know I will continue to encounter the big events I can imagine, but I also recognize that my greatest joys will come from the small, unexpected moments I cannot visualize. All I can do in this season of time is appreciate these small moments while I have them and hope that my life continues to be shaped by the beauty of small contributions and countless meaningful moments.