When my parents were my age, they were already married, had full-time jobs, and had a house together. They were able to attain their degrees within two years and found jobs straight out of college. Now, it's 2016. I just attained my degree after pushing tirelessly through three and a half years of college. I live in a small apartment with my boyfriend and my cat. I work two jobs: making paper chains with small children and serving food to retired nuns; yet I'm still barely making ends meet.
I'm not able to find a full-time job that pertains to my degree because they all require more experience than I have. I haven't the slightest idea as to where I'd like to be even one year from now, but I do know that I won't be married, I won't be able to afford a house, and I probably won't have a steady job like my parents did. Times have definitely changed, but is it for the good?
Back in the "olden days," there were considered to be four life phases that most people went through: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. In the present day, it's not that simple. Now the common life phases consist of childhood, adolescence, odyssey years, adulthood, retirement and old age.
The odyssey years are the years that 20-somethings spend wandering about, trying to figure out what exactly it is they want to do with the rest of their lives; think of Odysseus in Homer's "Odyssey." There's not a clear answer as to how this new phase came about, but it's definitely one of the least understood of the newer phases.
Time and time again, I hear older generations criticizing Millennials, accusing us of being lazy because many of us haven't reached any major milestones. We're not finding permanent jobs, we're not homeowners, and we're not starting families; a major disappointment to the older generations who define adulthood by major accomplishments.
It's often quite frustrating to hear this from people who are supposed to be supporting you, but you also have to stop and think about how much has changed since they were 20-somethings themselves.
The cost of college holds so many of us back. If you can't afford it, it's extremely difficult to find a job without some sort of degree. And if you can afford it, you're stuck paying off your loans for the rest of your life, and the job market is still extremely competitive. The amount of experience you need to get a professional, full-time job is absolutely overwhelming. According to The New York Times, "The odyssey years are not about slacking off. There are intense competitive pressures as a result of the vast numbers of people chasing relatively few opportunities."
You also have to take into consideration the fact that gender roles have drastically changed in the last few decades. The New York Times stated "Thirty-six percent of female workers in their 20s now have a college degree, compared with 23 percent of male workers..." This has fundamentally scrambled the courtship rituals and decreased the pressure to get married. Educated women can get many of the things they want (income, status, identity) without marriage..." Women now have the opportunity to attend college and create lives for themselves, which is something that was more uncommon in previous generations.
The odyssey years are definitely a stressful time. You're suddenly thrust into the fully adult world straight out of college, and you're expected to get your life together while simultaneously trying to find a job and keep up with your student loan payments. There's not enough time or money for us Millennials to achieve all that the Baby Boomers did in their early adult years. It's a tough world out there!
