http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-life_crisis
And my "personal favorite":
So, come one, come all...how many here are in a so-called "Quarter Life Crisis"? I certainly am. I've got an M.A. that is seemingly getting me nowhere. I've applied to dozens and dozens of jobs, only to hear nothing back. I would want to move to NYC or LA, but have no money to do so, and my resumes to those cities are probably being sent to the trash, thanks to me living in crappy old worthless Michigan. I sit at home and bitch endlessly on the internet, while I make follow up calls to HR reps who probably dislike me calling. Of course, even then, that's such an improvement over the vast majority of posted jobs that I will never hear a peep out of, despite the fact that I'm more than qualified for them.
Then I want to move to Toronto to be with the only person I still love in this shitty world and it will cost me about USD $4000 combined in legal fees and application fees to get a permanent residency application through. So still, I need to get a shitty fucking job just so I can apply to move to the only place I want to be anymore so I can work there.
And, yet, after three months of being graduated, I'm still no closer to finding a job. How do you compete with people for a job that involves little more than making coffee and sticking your nose in someone's ass for a year, just so you can no longer be considered "entry-level"? Should I mention my cappuccino making skills make me a "great asset" for "their team"?
I feel as if the last six years of my life in college have been an utter waste of money. Being unemployed was something I could have done without $50,000 of student loan debt. And then there's that whole issue of "networking." Oh yes...I worked on that over the past six years, only to find that, now, my e-mails, 9 times out of 10, are no longer answered--one of which belonging to an "industry alumnus" from Emerson College that is supposed to answer these (through a program through Career Services)! I'm grossly tired of trying to contact people who clearly don't give a shit about me...and why should they? Oh that's right. That's how you get jobs in the "New Economy." Fuck talent. It's all about "who you know," rather than "what you know." And we have a President who certainly epitomizes that, that's for sure!
Now I've just got this sinking feeling that all of my talents are just doomed to get wasted in pointless "sales jobs" that advertise "opportunity," but are nothing more than a good place to waste 80 hours of your week. After all, you're young. You don't need a life and they don't want to hire two employees that work 40 hours a week. No, that would require giving two people half-assed insurance packages that require excessive co-pays and still don't amount to shit, along with a pay check that still doesn't cover rent.
What a waste, indeed, and God forbid I be able to move abroad. Europe is sealed tighter than a treasure chest...except, of course, for their citizens that live in the U.S. and take away all our jobs. Oh yes, the U.S. is the "land of opportunity" for everyone but American citizens, because immigrants serve the utmost most important function for Big Business of expanding the supply pool of labor and driving down wages. After all, their old cranky senior citizen shareholders want their ivory back scratcher down in "Sanibel."
Arrrrrgh. So, again, come one, come all! This is a most depressing forum, so there's got to be others like me. So post your grievances in great detail. It probably won't change a damn thing: the world will still look grossly hopeless and insult your intelligence the next morning, but maybe you'll feel a bit better by writing it down. I certainly do!
Melon
Characteristics of this crisis are:
* confusion of identity
* insecurity regarding the near future
* insecurity regarding present accomplishments
* re-evaluation of close interpersonal relationships
* disappointment with one's job
* nostalgia for college life
* tendency to hold stronger opinions
* boredom with social interactions
* financially-rooted stress
And my "personal favorite":
A primary cause of the stress associated with the "quarter-life crisis" is financial in nature. Real wages for most people have been dropping since the 1970s, and most professions have become highly competitive. Positions of relative security-- such as tenured positions at universities and "partner" status at law firms-- have dwindled in number. This, combined with excessive downsizing, means that many Americans will never experience occupational security in their lives, and this is doubly unlikely in young adulthood. Generation X was the first generation to meet this uncertain "New Economy" en masse.
The era when a professional career meant a life of occupational security-- thus allowing an individual to proceed to establish an "inner life"-- is coming to a crashing end. Financial professionals are often expected to spend upwards of 80 hours per week in the office, and people in the legal, medical, educational, and managerial professions may average more than 60. In most cases, these long hours are de facto involuntary, reflecting economic and social insecurity. While these ills plague adults at all ages, their worst victims are ambitious, unestablished young adults.
In The Cheating Culture, David Callahan illustrates that these ills of excessive competition and insecurity do not always end once one becomes established-- by being awarded tenure or "partner" status-- and therefore the "quarter-life crisis" may actually extend beyond young adulthood. Some measure of financial security-- which usually requires occupational security-- is necessary for psychological development. Some have theorized that insecurity in the "New Economy" will place many Americans in a state of, effectively, perpetual adolescence, and that the rampant and competitive consumerism of the 1990s and 2000s indicates that this is already taking place.
So, come one, come all...how many here are in a so-called "Quarter Life Crisis"? I certainly am. I've got an M.A. that is seemingly getting me nowhere. I've applied to dozens and dozens of jobs, only to hear nothing back. I would want to move to NYC or LA, but have no money to do so, and my resumes to those cities are probably being sent to the trash, thanks to me living in crappy old worthless Michigan. I sit at home and bitch endlessly on the internet, while I make follow up calls to HR reps who probably dislike me calling. Of course, even then, that's such an improvement over the vast majority of posted jobs that I will never hear a peep out of, despite the fact that I'm more than qualified for them.
Then I want to move to Toronto to be with the only person I still love in this shitty world and it will cost me about USD $4000 combined in legal fees and application fees to get a permanent residency application through. So still, I need to get a shitty fucking job just so I can apply to move to the only place I want to be anymore so I can work there.
And, yet, after three months of being graduated, I'm still no closer to finding a job. How do you compete with people for a job that involves little more than making coffee and sticking your nose in someone's ass for a year, just so you can no longer be considered "entry-level"? Should I mention my cappuccino making skills make me a "great asset" for "their team"?
I feel as if the last six years of my life in college have been an utter waste of money. Being unemployed was something I could have done without $50,000 of student loan debt. And then there's that whole issue of "networking." Oh yes...I worked on that over the past six years, only to find that, now, my e-mails, 9 times out of 10, are no longer answered--one of which belonging to an "industry alumnus" from Emerson College that is supposed to answer these (through a program through Career Services)! I'm grossly tired of trying to contact people who clearly don't give a shit about me...and why should they? Oh that's right. That's how you get jobs in the "New Economy." Fuck talent. It's all about "who you know," rather than "what you know." And we have a President who certainly epitomizes that, that's for sure!
Now I've just got this sinking feeling that all of my talents are just doomed to get wasted in pointless "sales jobs" that advertise "opportunity," but are nothing more than a good place to waste 80 hours of your week. After all, you're young. You don't need a life and they don't want to hire two employees that work 40 hours a week. No, that would require giving two people half-assed insurance packages that require excessive co-pays and still don't amount to shit, along with a pay check that still doesn't cover rent.
What a waste, indeed, and God forbid I be able to move abroad. Europe is sealed tighter than a treasure chest...except, of course, for their citizens that live in the U.S. and take away all our jobs. Oh yes, the U.S. is the "land of opportunity" for everyone but American citizens, because immigrants serve the utmost most important function for Big Business of expanding the supply pool of labor and driving down wages. After all, their old cranky senior citizen shareholders want their ivory back scratcher down in "Sanibel."
Arrrrrgh. So, again, come one, come all! This is a most depressing forum, so there's got to be others like me. So post your grievances in great detail. It probably won't change a damn thing: the world will still look grossly hopeless and insult your intelligence the next morning, but maybe you'll feel a bit better by writing it down. I certainly do!
Melon
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