Coming Up Short: Working Heart Adulthood in an Age of Uncertainty

“Racism is man’s gravest threat to man- the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.” (Abraham J. Heschel, Jewish philosopher). Richard Beynon’s ‘The Shifting Heart’ was first published in 1960, and insightfully explores the impact of racism. It is based on the lives of the Bianchis, an Italian family living in the suburb of Collingwood, during the post World War II immigration boom. As a literary device, symbolism is the representation of a concept through underlying meanings of objects. Beynon portrays the message, ‘racism is a result of intolerance, not the specific races alone,’ through the use of symbolism as well as the various racial attitudes of characters. The set

“Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire other,” says Virginia Woolf, an English writer. Growing up is preordained. Everyone grows up. When do we grow up? Perhaps, after we graduate school, maybe after our first love, or maybe after our marriage or maybe after the birth of our first kid. It primarily depends on how one looks at it, but irrespective of what we consider the right time or the right situation to be “grown-ups”, we cannot help but admit that it is that moment in time where innocence vanishes. As children, we dream of growing up, getting a job, getting married, living happily but on the contrary it is quite different, we find that reality is completely opposite. More often than we wish, we were still children,

The second occurs as teenagers come closer to the prison that is adulthood. While already filled with angst and hormones, they try to fight their future to no avail. This frustration is what warrants their cry for help. The author also emphasizes the inevitability of the future by stressing that “[they] were born” into the lives they’re living(1,22). While they may fight to make their own choices, these young adults have little to no say in what they will become later in life.

They also expressed that, while they know it is quite common, they hoped for themselves to be living with a partner or in apartment on their own once they were over the age of 30 if they could not live in a home of their own. It was at this point that I began to see that the ideals of centuries past continue to be relevant within our modern context. However, the autonomy to choose the timing of attainment is fundamental to becoming an independent adult. My respondents, therefore, supported previous literature which suggests that conventional transitions to adulthood are occurring but at rather delayed and individualistic rates. But where does this delay come

The life pursuits and subjective judgments of many contemporary young people indicate that the transition to adult roles has become so delayed and prolonged that it has spawned a new transitional period extending from the late teens to the mid-to late-twenties, called emerging adulthood. During the college years, young people often refine their approach to forming their own identity. In these years, young people have left adolescence, but most have not yet assumed adult responsibilities. Many have dreams and those are what guides them in their decision making. In the video, 22 year old Casey describes her dream and comments on her identity development. Casey says that she became interested in Psychology in high school during her junior year when she took a psych course. She knew from then on that was what she wanted to do, but she hadn't picked a career yet. Casey said that she picked a career during her first year of graduate school, when she decided on gerontology. She said her happy and active grandparents had a lot to do with picking a career and wanting to work with the population. Casey thinks her identity was a gradual process and it's only really formed since last year. She feels her parents helped shape her morals and beliefs, but in between her senior year and her first year of graduate school, she started to form her own and integrated some of her own ideas. 24 year old Elizabeth and 25 year old Joel are shown discussing

As boundaries are pushed, the standards of what it means to be an adult are changing. One factor that is keeping our young adults from becoming functioning members of society is their lack of independence. In Eve Tushnet’s “You Can Go Home Again,” a 2008 study showed that out of those who have returned home or those who never left the nest, “few contributed financially to the household or [do] chores”(par. 5). If the leaders of our future generations refuse to contribute to their homes, what can they contribute to the betterment of our society? There is a growing stigma around adults who live with their parents yet these consequences are not proving any prevention, and those who ignore the reputation are being described as having “failed to launch,” (par. 4). The numbers of those adults are steadily rising. As less emphasis is placed upon the value of responsibilities, adults feel that they are given the excuse to move back home after college or at least find a way to depend upon their parents again. An article by Karen L. Fingerman and Frank F. Furstenberg entitled "You Can Go Home Again," argues for a recent study depicting that almost 70 percent of parents still provide some type of “practical assistance” to their children every month. This specific reliance teaches adolescents that they will never have to work to their maximum potential as their parents will never truly stop cleaning up their mess. While it must be considered that higher satisfaction and clearer life goals have been reported amongst those receiving assistance (par. 3), this gives leeway to indolence and overdependence, essentially teaching our children that effort is not necessary so long as you are

We've all heard the dismissing comment made by many in the managerial ranks that "I don't care what people think of me." Well, it may indeed be true for them, but it's not true of the best leaders. The best leaders want to be liked, and they want openness from other people. Not caring how others feel and think about what we do and say is an attitude for losers—an attitude that can only lead to less and less effectiveness.

Dunn suggests that young adults are experiencing failure to launch because of the financial difficulties of living alone during a recession (Dunn, 2012). According to Dunn, High school and college grads have a hard time trying to find a meaningful job due to the fact of fewer jobs to choose from and more competition to fill them and even a harder time transitioning from an entry-level job to a career (Dunn, 2012). About 13% of adult children between 18 and 29 move back in with their parents after an attempt to live alone, majority of them are females that state that the economy cause they to move back home (Dunn, 2012). Going to college has become very popular these day but the degrees don’t seem to have a positive effect as far as leading to a job as it once did and living on minimal wage is impossible (Dunn, 2012) Living back home also enables a young adults to reduce their expenses and focus on saving money. Rather than struggling to make ends meet, they can put money in their savings accounts or investments and begin growing a nest egg (Dunn, 2012). People who use their parents as a safety net with no greater financial goal in mind are doomed to never launch away from home; those who use it as a carefully-calculated stepping-stone to a more successful life are much more likely to launch successfully and stay independent ( Dunn, 2012).

On Tuesday, April 5, 2016 I interview Karla Bly who lives in Sioux Center. Mrs. Bly is married and has four children between the ages 25 and 12. She is 48 years old and has lived in Iowa for her entire life. The stage of life that Karla is in is middle adult hood, it is defined as, “The developmental period beginning at approximately 40 years of age and extending to about 60 to 65 years of age. For many people. Middle adult-hood is a time of declining physical skills and expanding responsibility.” (Santrock, 336) When Karla was in her 20’s and 30’s she thought that she knew everything, but it turned out that she did not know everything yet. When she was in her 20’s she had three little children running around at home, things were busy and chaotic.

Robert J. Samuelson, columnist for The Washington Post, in his article “Generational warfare, anyone?”(November 29th) rallies young americans to resent their current economic situation. Samuelson supports his claim by providing empirical evidence from recent Pew Research Center explicates the rising levels of people living with their parents, then by abstracting Scott Keeters notes juxtapositioning them with our modern day situation. His attempt to assemble the youth of the american workforce by informing them of their modern day struggles. Samuelson's uses erudite diction that appeals to the Washington Post’s audience of university graduates. The friction between the boomers and our current youth has thrown our economy back into the 1930’s.

After one graduates from high school, they are thrown in to adult life. Adult life is scary, uncharted territory for most young adults. When we are thrown straight in to life without the proper life skills to conquer it, life can quickly become overwhelmingly stressful. In a 2014 study conducted of recent high school graduates, 83% of students reported some gaps in their education when asked how their high school education prepared them for life and, or, college. (Kirst) If high school students are leaving high school without skills such as basic communication, financial literacy, and social skills, we are breeding a generation of young adults who cannot properly care for themselves.

There is no doubt that there are many things that can contribute to a young, emerging adult’s wellbeing. The theory that prompted research on young adults distinctive characteristics, in other words,

In the article “The Go-Nowhere Generation,” the Buchholzes argue that the present generation of youths has taken a turn for the worse, losing the sense of spirit that were once synonymous with people of their age and settling for meager jobs in their hometowns instead. The target audience of “The Go-Nowhere Generation” is educated older adults and parents, who are most likely to share the authors’ views. The authors implement a series of comparisons, which include statistics and descriptions, between the past and present generation of young adults to illustrate their position. However, though the authors make several valid points that are supported by solid evidence, the article falls short of being truly convincing due to its narrow views

There are five key features that characterize emerging adulthood. The first s identity exploration. The second is “Instability.” For many the instability is a result of residential changes such as living in a dorm. There is also instability in friendships, romantic relationships, academia, and work. Emerging adults have few obligations, responsibilities, and commitments. Because they have so much autonomy in controlling their own lives the third key feature is “Self-Focused.” One of the most difficult

Growing up, as Tim Urban stated in his article; Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy “, we were raised “with a sense of optimism and unbounded possibility” (par 6). Moreover, what our parents didn’t tell us, is that we have to devote most of our entire life to achieve those possibility. However, our parents’ generation - the baby boomers, born in the 50s, raised by our grandparents. Were raised to “build practical, secured careers” (Urban par 4) But another for them to get to stable career they have to go through hard time, bad decisions and loss of love ones.