Her use of the word "liminal" in Elle's profile he links to reminded me of the most culturally unifying thing I ever read - http://www2.fiu.edu/~ereserve/010010095-1.pdf

Amazing how societies all have this same period, whether it's college or 3 years in the woods. The rules are weirdly the same - "there's a time for everything, and it's college" translates to a random tribe in Africa almost literally.