The Johnson, Crosnoe and Elder article “Insight on Adolescence from a Life Course Perspective” really spoke to me, as I am a member of the famous, no-so-grown “millennial” age group.  What we now consider a successful trajectory is shifting from what was expected when I was in high school (a mere) 7 years ago. Johnson, Crosnoe and Elder report that “such changes, reflected in contemporary discussions of ‘extended adolescence,’ ‘delayed adulthood,’ and ‘emerging adulthood,’ have profound implications for what preparedness for adulthood now entails as well as what policies aimed at ‘successful’ transitions into adulthood need to address” (275). We are growing more accepting of people who take gap years before or during college, move back home after graduation or get a job in something totally different than what they studied.

I am all for this change.

I didn’t know what I really wanted to do with my life when I chose to go to small, expensive liberal arts college. Sure, I had fun and certainly learned things along the way but I didn’t necessarily set my self up for immediate post-grad success. I think high school students get a lot of pressure to have their lives figured out by the time they’re juniors so they can visit and apply to all the ‘right’ schools. And sure, some students have known since day one  what they want to be, but I think most of us had no concrete idea. So while this idea of “delayed adulthood” might sound like a lazy kid’s excuse to parents who just want their offspring to nail down a 9-to-5 and start a 401-K, I find it refreshing.

We need to address the fact that the job market has shifted drastically since the recession and it is still changing. We need to be real with high school students: just cause you went to a ‘good’ school doesn’t mean you’re definitely going to graduate with a job. Just because you graduated with an business degree doesn’t mean you have to work on Wall Street. With the boom of start-ups and the increase versatility of technology, all sorts of interdisciplinary jobs have been created. The “track” that students are expected to follow just got a lot more exciting, with pit-stops which could possibly lead to U-turns or other tracks entirely. We should be focusing on teaching tangible, always necessary life skills like how to prepare taxes or how to apply for loans alongside how to prep for the SAT, because being an emerging adult doesn’t always mean you have other experienced adults who can help you negotiate all that.