Rite of Passage

There is an interesting op-ed piece by David Brooks in The New York Times entitled "How Adulthood Happens." Based on current research on young adults, Brooks describes a rite of passage between the ages of 22 and 30 in which modern youth struggle towards adulthood.

Here are some of the most noteworthy observations:

Students who attend college regard their studies as secondary to their social relationships. Yet once they graduate, they find themselves on their own without the benefits of a social network.

Upon graduating, many lack the basic skills to find a job and, having been told to follow their dreams, they are unprepared for the realities of the current work environment. The majority (53%) are unemployed, underemployed, or working in jobs paying less than $30,000 annually.

At least one-third of students have moved back home (double the 1960s statistics). American parents pay an average of $38,000 in assistance to their young adult children.

The majority are not in a hurry to reach adulthood and regard the adult world with great pessimism.

Brooks does, however, end the article on a note of optimism:

Yet here is the good news. By age 30, the vast majority are through it. The sheer hardness of the 'Odyssey Years' teaches people to hustle. The trials and errors of the decade carve contours onto their hearts, so they learn what they love and what they don’t. They develop their own internal criteria to make their own decisions. They fear what other people think less because they learn that other people are not thinking about them; they are busy thinking about themselves.

Finally, they learn to say no. After a youth dazzled by possibilities and the fear of missing out, they discover that committing to the few things you love is a sort of liberation. They piece together their mosaic.

One thing we can tell young grads and their parents is that this is normal. This phase is a thing. It’s not a sentence to a life of video games, loneliness and hangovers. It’s a rite of passage that makes people strong.

For the full text of the op-ed piece, please see http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/12/opi....