I’m on the brink of a quarter life crisis. (This does exist; the self-help section at my local Borders tells me so.) As my 25th birthday nears, I’m reassessing my goals and plans. I won’t deny I’m not where I thought I’d be when I walked across Alumni Park to accept my college diploma several years ago. I’m currently experiencing a second adolescence. And it’s not because I’m constantly being told I look like I’m 16.
And according to the New York Times, if you’re a 20-something, you’re experiencing it too. The article notes some key milestones that mark the “transition to adulthood”: graduating college, leaving the parental nest and buying a place of your own, financial independence, marrying and popping out some babies. However, those in my age range are taking longer to hit those milestones, if we’re working towards them at all.
[Fany in After Hours]
If you don’t want to read through all 20-something character profiles to get to the meaty facts, the good people over at Lemondrop have simplified all the data into a snazzy list. How can you tell you’re a 20-something according to the New York Times?
- Permanent residence is most likely your parent’s address because you’re more likely to move every year.
- You’re living through a second adolescence because we’re less likely to hit all five milestones by the time we’re 30 compared to previous generations. Not our fault of course. Let’s play the blame game with social and economic changes.
- Getting that MRS degree is no longer that important because you’re already cohabitating with them or planning on it.
- You’ve job-hopped, and will on average job-hop at least seven times because…
- You consider all your life options still open. We’re young and have the rest of our lives to get where we want to/need to be one day so why settle? The optimism and confidence is positively nauseating.
- You’re once again living under your parents’ roof. You’ve kicked the rules and the curfew to the curb, but hopefully…
- You’re back on the parental payroll, baby.
- You can’t help yourself; you’re reacting before you think.
- You want to take a year off to travel or chase those philanthropic pursuits. I’m sure Facebook likes to rub it in your face, as it does mine, that some of your friends are out and about doing just that post-college.
- You’re not the only one experiencing a quarter-life crisis. Your friends are too.
We were spoon-fed all through college that we were going to rock at life once we graduated. However, the world seems a little daunting now that the gold stars, high fives and words of encouragements are harder to come by.
You’re supposed to be who you’re supposed to be, meet who you’re supposed to meet, and try everything you want to try all during your 20s. But who can juggle climbing that corporate ladder, taking on another non-profit cause and squeezing in some playtime?
Is it possible that we’ve become too focused on personal enlightenment and personal happiness that we’ve delayed adulthood offsetting the chances we’ll even complete at least half of that list of milestones? Most likely, but hey, you know what, I’m pretty certain it’ll all work out in the end because we won’t be a bleary-eyed statistic.
