The Pressures of Being a 21st Century Young Adult

Hi y'all. I know it's been a while since I wrote on my beloved blog...poor little guy. Just with the wifi issues in my dorm...it's almost impossible to get anything done, let alone a blog post. But here I am, so yeah, let's go.

I was watching the Iowa State Men's Basketball game today (Go Cyclones), and I really started thinking about the pressure our generation faces...so much. And it's not just college athletes...it's ALL of us starting extremely young.

Our parents were pressured and pushed...no doubt. But we face...that's pressure.
Starting off with education, college is just expected. Back in our parents day, college wasn't even always thought about. It wasn't just automatically assumed that someone was going to college. Nowadays, your freshman year of high school...it's all about "What college do you want to go to?" "What are you going to major in?" I was pressured so hard all through high school being the top of my class...and now it has caught up with me. I hate college, but that's where I had to go because everyone EXPECTED it from me.
And not to mention...we're expected to go to college more and more as tuition rises higher and higher. I am completely overwhelmed thinking about paying for college next year. So once we do (hopefully) get jobs, we start our lives off with tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt. It's actually very ironic if you think about it...

And then there's athletics...not that most of us are still in them, but we all were there. The world of sports has completely evolved, and I would argue not all for the better. Every season overlaps another season. When our parents were kids, there wasn't six open gyms on Sunday. There weren't 4 $250 camps every summer. 

And everyone is expected to be the best. If you make a mistake, damn you to hell. The bar is set higher and higher every single year. Kids are faster, stronger, jump higher, lift more, more flexible (dance world), then ever before. But they also have to be the best in every thing they're involved in. And if you're not the best...you're the worst. If you're not first, you're last. 

And then there's the issue of teen pregnancy. I'm not promoting people get pregnant when they're 15, 16... but how can adults look down upon it? When my mom talks about high school, half the girls ended up getting pregnant, dropping out, and living in a trailer with their husband.

I think the world is too demanding of young adults. If you don't go to college, you might as well go fill out an application at Mcdonald's and hope you make minimum wage. But kids are never allowed to actually FIND what they want to do. They are pressured into what they are expected to do, or forced to do something that will make ends meat. Our society is so expensive, and I think we have a lot of people in the country doing things they don't really enjoy. And that just sounds like an awful life..

We should all support each other as the kids of the 21st century. Because I don't think adults really understand what growing up now is like...