twenty- somethings

Now, I am stealing the idea from my friend Jo and her blog...but i think it is a different point I am making.

There is an article...go read it. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/magazine/22Adulthood-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&sq=20%20somethings&st=cse&scp=1

Now, this a quite a long article but from the begining part, all i feel is angry. We are twenty-somethings and we are confused. I have never been more confused in my life. What to do next year? Where to live? What to study? Thesis topics? the list is endless. Life is hard...and sometimes being a twenty-something sucks. I know it is lame, but sometimes i just want to be a thirty-something who is organised. Who decided on a thesis topic, wrote it, got a masters, got a job and has a family. She is put together and has her head screwed on tight. But the fact of the matter is that we are not there yet. We are young, confused people...but isn't that what being a twenty-something in this day and age means?

This article seems to think not:
"We’re in the thick of what one sociologist calls “the changing timetable for adulthood.” Sociologists traditionally define the “transition to adulthood” as marked by five milestones: completing school, leaving home, becoming financially independent, marrying and having a child. In 1960, 77 percent of women and 65 percent of men had, by the time they reached 30, passed all five milestones. Among 30-year-olds in 2000, according to data from the United States Census Bureau, fewer than half of the women and one-third of the men had done so. A Canadian study reported that a typical 30-year-old in 2001 had completed the same number of milestones as a 25-year-old in the early ’70s."

Now please...tell me if i am wrong but you seem to be advocating somewhat of a rather anti- independence stance here. Things have changed! In the 1960s, you could not travel the world at the drop of a hat. I remember my dad telling me he had to take a boat to the USA and that was the first time he saw TV. There was no internet, no email, no lonely planet and definitely no teachKorea. There were two professions for women- teacher or nurse and you only did that till you got married. The number of parents who were married and had a kid by 25 is unbelievable! But is that what we are advocated now...most definitely not! Most of those moms tell us to stay young and independent...live you life...don't settle down just yet!

I am 22 years old. I have completed two of five milestones...i have failed! But i think besides my drives license the first time, that is the only thing i have failed. How many of those 25 year olds have a masters degree or even a freaking honours degree. By the time i am 30, i plan on having two masters degrees...and i think that that's okay. Now days people live to like 80 years old. So after those 30 years, i still have some time to achieve the rest. I will achieve those other three milestones. I will get 5 out of 5...but i can guarantee you that it will not be in the next 7 years.

We live in a different era. Women can do anything they want to. There are female presidents, Black presidents. There is genuine equality in most parts of the world. I can talk to my friend in Japan with the drop of a hat. I can fly across the world in 8 hours. With the click of a button I can have something delivered from 30 000km away. This is the world twenty-somethings live in. You know why we haven't achieved 5 out of 5...because there are 2 million other things we have to decide first.

So you know, New York Times...go stuff yourself! I am quite happy with my own goals and will get to yours later