Life After School

From childhood memories full of climbing trees and riding your bicycle down the neighborhood sidewalks, if we're fortunate we eventually become full fledge adults. You get past the high school prom and may or may not attend college. By your mid-20's, most of us are working full time jobs and worrying about health insurance. However, are we ever truly prepared for the real world?

We spend our teenage years going to games, dances, worrying about grades and learning how to drive. For those who forgo college, you may enter the job market at an earlier time but most likely even those jobs are just a time of exploration. While some others explore during college, flitting from major to major trying to decide what you might have a passion for. Afterall, if your're going to spend the rest of life doing it, it might as well be something you enjoy.

Now, once in the job market, do things turn out the way that you imagined it? No one is holding your hand any longer . There is no grade to earn in your job performance, either you get a raise or fired. You navigate through the ropes of business politics. You learn there are things in the real world that no one can prepare you for. Your co-worker, the friendly person who helped you find your way on the first day, may become threatened if the boss pays more attention to your work. All of a sudden, it becomes uncomfortable, but you are thankful for your job because it offers health insurance and steady pay. And as today goes, we all know how expensive health care can be. No longer can we be under our parent's plan.

Responsibility has been piled on top of you. Your salary goes towards car payments, student loans, rent, groceries, living expenses, and your basic social activities. It's no wonder most of us now hit a quarterlife crisis. A decade ago, this concept was never even talked about in most settings. Why was this never mentioned before? Could it possibly be that with so many social activities we fit in during our teenage years, it doesn't prepare us enough for the real world? Is college is not preparing us enough? Or could it be that during our first few years of being in the real job market, we work so hard to accumulate all these material things we don't stop to analyze what's truly important in life. The concept of trying to have it all mostly falls upon the mid 20's age range. You should be on the right career path, looking to settle down, and finding a home. Isn't that what society tells young adults? When in actuality, through observation among peers in this age range, most people in their 20's take the whole decade to learn about themselves. Finding the right partner isn't as easy as it used to be. With all the latest advances in technology to aid in communication, people are still having a hard time connecting. The reason may be due to the fact that the 20's are a huge transitioning period. A school schedule isn't in place to define what your upcoming year may be like. Everything is unknown.

The best thing to take out of this is that during this time, you may learn more about yourself than ever before. You realize, you may not want to settle down and start the family with 2.5 kids yet. Feeling chained to your office chair for 40 hours or more is not as appealing as you thought it would be. Maybe taking off to work in a bar on some tropical island is the right path for you. All in all, there are more options than ever for young adults to find themselves. The quarterlife crisis may be time's way of saying, "Do what works for you and not follow someone else's standard of living." It's an opportunity for growth because the guidelines are no longer available. What works for some may not work for others. This period is a bit more blurred because this is when you really start to see people veer off into different directions in your group of friends. It's a time to fly and be truly independent and decide what you want to make out of your life. The future is yours.