Volcanically greasy, artificially gooey, lusciously bubbly. Rich, warm years of adolescence tucked into a breaded role of cheese, brimming with vitality. Say goodbye to those mozzarella sticks of youth because college graduation has passed, and it’s time to face… life! From this point forward I intend to blog about articles that deal with the ups and downs; ins and outs; overs and unders of quarter-life crises. Not only have I been consciously ignoring the fact that I’ll be twenty in less than six months, but I’m also just slowly coming to terms with the concept of life after graduation. Sooner or later I’m going to hit the quarter-life mark, and I’m looking forward to exploring the ranges of emotions, experiences, and longings that instigate such “trauma.”
What are the major factors that cause the onset of a quarter-life crisis, and how have its effects and results changed from generation to generation? Are there any preventative measures that can be taken to mitigate the negative repercussions of facing the real world?
I’m also planning on researching how the symptoms of this crisis may vary across various portions of the American or even international population. If are any particular racial, socio-economic, or gender-related trends, I’d like to take them into consideration as I narrow my overwhelming number of questions related to this topic to a single research point.
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I'm excited to see where this topic takes you, since the idea of the quarter-life crisis seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon, thus its causes likely direct relate to our identity as part of the millennial generation. My personal hypothesis would be that this is a problem unique to millennials because of our exceedingly high expectations, as once Gen Me graduates college and have to face the crushing realities of today, we shut down and are unable to function. The fact that millennials are also closer to their parents than previous generations may explain why twenty-somethings feel so comfortable crashing on mom and dad's couch while they postpone their job search! I think this could be a particularly engaging topic if you focus on different ethnographic trends, as I'd be willing to bet that the quarter-life crisis primarily affects well-educated, middle-class, suburban white kids (and possibly males more than females...). It should be interesting to see what you come up with.
ReplyDeleteI like this topic a lot, and the comparative focus (internationally) seems interesting as well. People were discussing the quarter-life crisis before the economic downturn (the 'great recession,' as they say). But the economy seems to have amplified the sense of crisis for quarter-lifers. I'm curious what angle you're going to take here. There are tons of blogs by quarter-lifers about this supposed crisis. And there the historical aspect: when did this term emerge and why? Is it a unique result of the millennial generation's high expectations for themselves and the world? How does this "crisis" fit into models of generational thinking more generally? Is the crisis real (evidenced by increasing levels of depression and mental illness among quarter-lifers) or more imagine (hey, I want a crisis too--move over Boomers! the mid-life crisis is so 1990... take your red convertible and hair pice and get lost). The comparative angle here--say, comparing the quarter-life crisis here to young-adult culture in Russia--would be a completely different project, but no less interesting. I'll be curious to see where your initial round of research leads you! It's important, at this stage, to be open to ideas that might help you focus the research question at this point.
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