“What Is It About 20-Somethings?” - NY Times Article

        This article made me realize that I’m not the only one who doesn’t know what to do with my life. Of course, I want to graduate from college on time and have a successful career like everyone else, but I feel that choosing a career at such a young age is a scary thing. I think that the 20s is a time to experiment and to finally settle on what you want to do for the rest of your life. Also, I feel that young people these days are pressured to gain higher degrees in order to be financially stable later on in their adulthood.
       So I completely agree that people are taking longer to grow up than they used to years ago. Why settle down and start a family when you believe there are so many opportunities out there? Professor Arnett states that the 20s is a time where we feel a “sense of possibilities” and I think that is true. As we begin our adulthood, nobody wants to think that our lives won’t turn out as what we fantasized them to be. We don’t know what will happen 10 or 20 years from now but it won’t be picture-perfect.
       Another important factor in this article is the influence of parents on their children. Many parents are what the article describes as “helicopter parents” – they’re always hovering over their children’s lives. We’ve all heard of or seen parents who simply refuse to let their kids go. So when young adults are finally “set fee”, the last thing on their mind is to go and settle down somewhere with a spouse and kids. As we reach the early 20s, we want to enjoy that time as much as we can before taking on the responsibilities that soon will arise.
       Even though I agree that some people want to put off facing adulthood as much as they can, another part of me thinks that there are many young people who are forced to grow up faster than others their age. In this article, scientists have studied that brains continue to mature until the age of 25. That doesn’t mean that all young adults can’t make informative decisions in their lives until that age. So in conclusion, just as there are people who can’t seem to grow up, there are many others who matured at a young age. It all depends on the experiences a person endures and their upbringing.