2008 Woodie Awards
Quarter-life Crisis: How to Deal
Amy Baldwin
Issue date: 4/6/05 Section: News
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Some young professionals are asking themselves that. (Hey, some baby boomers are, too.)
Another question: The pay might be more than enough to fund the sour-apple martini life, but are the long hours in cubicle hell worth it?
Their problem: the quarterlife crisis. Web sites and books document this younger version of the midlife crisis.
This so-called "crisis" is partly due to today's 20-somethings coming of age with cell phones, the Internet, e-mail and instant messages, says Alexandra Robbins in her book "Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis." There's this expectation that gratification- whether it's related to jobs or relationships- should be immediate.
But isn't angst just part of being young?
"It is more intense now. One reason is there are more college graduates than ever before in history, which increases the sense of competition and that we have to work that much harder to distinguish ourselves," Robbins, 28, said. (She also explained that she uses the term "crisis" in its psychological meaning: "turning point.")
And mounting student loan obligations put college grads in a position of feeling they have to take the first job offered- or any job offered, she said.
I chatted up four Charlotte 20-somethings about their quarterlife crises- all of them dealing with how they earn their money.
And I got two experts- Robbins and Tammie Lesesne, a licensed professional counselor in Charlotte- to offer advice.
Doesn't matter if you don't fit the age group. It's never a bad idea to evaluate your professional life. As one of my editors recently told me in a job-related discussion: "It's always good to have a plan."
___
Ryan Eversole, 23
OCCUPATION: Administrative assistant for architectural/engineering firm who is studying at UNC Charlotte to be a paralegal
"CRISIS": Not sure she's on the right career path. "I sit in class and think, 'Do I really know what I want to do when I grow up?'" Eversole said. But she feels obligated to make the paralegal profession work because her grandparents are paying for school.
Some young professionals are asking themselves that. (Hey, some baby boomers are, too.)
Another question: The pay might be more than enough to fund the sour-apple martini life, but are the long hours in cubicle hell worth it?
Their problem: the quarterlife crisis. Web sites and books document this younger version of the midlife crisis.
This so-called "crisis" is partly due to today's 20-somethings coming of age with cell phones, the Internet, e-mail and instant messages, says Alexandra Robbins in her book "Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis." There's this expectation that gratification- whether it's related to jobs or relationships- should be immediate.
But isn't angst just part of being young?
"It is more intense now. One reason is there are more college graduates than ever before in history, which increases the sense of competition and that we have to work that much harder to distinguish ourselves," Robbins, 28, said. (She also explained that she uses the term "crisis" in its psychological meaning: "turning point.")
And mounting student loan obligations put college grads in a position of feeling they have to take the first job offered- or any job offered, she said.
I chatted up four Charlotte 20-somethings about their quarterlife crises- all of them dealing with how they earn their money.
And I got two experts- Robbins and Tammie Lesesne, a licensed professional counselor in Charlotte- to offer advice.
Doesn't matter if you don't fit the age group. It's never a bad idea to evaluate your professional life. As one of my editors recently told me in a job-related discussion: "It's always good to have a plan."
___
Ryan Eversole, 23
OCCUPATION: Administrative assistant for architectural/engineering firm who is studying at UNC Charlotte to be a paralegal
"CRISIS": Not sure she's on the right career path. "I sit in class and think, 'Do I really know what I want to do when I grow up?'" Eversole said. But she feels obligated to make the paralegal profession work because her grandparents are paying for school.