Experiencing the Odyssey Years

I thought it was just I who was experiencing this. At least, that is how it felt or seemed through my lens. I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2006, a bit early from scheduled 2007 graduation date. It has now been about 2 years since I graduated from college and my parents seem concerned about my future and so do I.

David Brooks sheds insight into a paradigm shift in contemporary adulthood on what should happen. It turns out that more of my peers are going through what I am. My girl friend ended up joining me on the ride after graduating in 2007. We spent two months traveling around Europe and we thought it would aid us in defining who we wanted to be. Wrong! Brooks claims, “During this decade, 20-somethings go to school and take breaks from school. They live with friends and they live at home. They fall in and out of love. They try one career and then try another.” While our parent’s grow uneasy with our sense of “no direction,” feeling that we are delaying our transition into adulthood.

The problem is that we have grown up in highly structured childhoods that by the time we graduate, we enter “into a world characterized by uncertainty, diversity, searching and tinkering.” Brooks adds, “Old success recipes don’t apply, new norms have not been established and everything seems to give way to a less permanent version of itself.” That explains why this generation is producing more entrepreneurs (mostly in the technology field) than ever. Our social interactions shift adapting to technology. So dating and staying in touch is done through FaceBook, Match.com or YouTube. Reading books or newspapers has turned into reading blogs or online newspaper versions. Others even go into dedicate a website to commenting, ergo that is why I blog now.

Brooks states, “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. Rather, what we’re seeing is the creation of a new life phase, just as adolescence came into being a century ago.” That is exactly right. It isn’t that I am lazy or wish to not do anything in life. I have high goals in life.

My perspective of what is going in my life is sometimes difficult to articulate. I am graphic designer that has a degree in Government. I wanted to go to Law school, but I do not feel inclined right now to follow this career path. As someone that is 23 years old with no major financial debt such as a mortgage or major responsibilities such as a family, I am in a point in my life that I would like to experiment with.
I want to try blogging . . . because I love politics and I want to establish myself as someone that can be trusted in this community for their unique perspective. I want to continue designing because I enjoy working for myself with no one to report to but myself. I like managing my clients personally. I also want to venture into other fields at some point. I do consulting (mostly technology related) and I want to start a t-shirt clothing line.

Perhaps I should not have been surprised. Most of my clients are young entrepreneurs such as myself. My closets friends are going through similar feelings and the ones that have jumped into the real world seem to regret it. They regret it not because they are in it as much as the feeling that they are doing it for the wrong reasons . . . the parent’s may have forced them or they forced themselves. Just remember: Do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do.