Young Adults Facing New Challenges in 'Quarterlife Crisis'

Monica Rose, sports editor

We have often heard about and have accepted the fact that people can experience a midlife crisis.

Unfortunately, we have not done the same for the quarter-life crisis.

A quarter-life crisis is very similar to the midlife crisis in the way that it is a response to a turning point in life. Both the midlife crisis and the quarter-life crisis are the way a person looks at a situation and their unknown future. This turning point could be an upcoming graduation, which then could trigger panic about the future. It could also be triggered by other things, such as fellow students graduating and leaving you behind wondering about your own future.

One way or another, a quarter-life crisis can happen, and it does happen. Unfortunately, in our society, we mask and deny so much of what happens to the world, and this so called “quarter-life crisis” isn’t any different. We mask it by calling it depression, anxiety, and hard times. Why is it that people won’t accept what happens in the world? The reason why is because people don’t like change. In fact, we fear it.

I think some people fear the acceptance of a quarter-life crisis because it shows the world that people in their 20s are suddenly dealing with issues normally dealt with in their late 40s and 50s.

It shows that there is more of a transition between young adulthood to adulthood, leaving us time to think about our future, especially since everyone from our parents to our teachers pound it into our brains that we need to think about our future.

This was not always so for our parents and grandparents. The phrase “30 is the new 20” is starting to be used, and for good reason. In the 1970s, many women married at 21, and men married at 23. Now, the average age for women is 25, and the average age for men is 27. Not only has the age for marriage increased, the numbers of jobs a person in his or her 20s has now increased as well. People between the ages of 18 to 32 have had at least 8.6 jobs, according to Alexandra Robbins, the author of “Quarterlife Crisis.”

While some people believe this is proof of our generation’s immaturity, I believe it is proof that we have to deal with more mature and adult issues at an earlier age. 

The fact is that we all have to realize that changes are happening in our society, and one of those changes is the quarter-life crisis. We are dealing with new experiences that our parents did not experience at the same age. But once we are through the quarter-life crisis, we become more capable of handling adult issues.