Entering Adulthood

Written by Jenna McConnell

Banner & Thumbnail: Photo by Jannis Lucas on Unsplash

Growing up is weird. Adulthood is this thing we have been told about for so many years and watch happen around us. It always seemed so far away, until one day, it was not. You feel ready for it but also completely ill-equipped to handle the barrage of new responsibilities and challenges life will throw at you. It is simultaneously exciting and nerve-wracking. 

Opening up social media and seeing pregnancy announcements or wedding photos is a bizarre feeling. Like…we’re allowed to do this now? Watching people your own age achieving these incredibly adult milestones brings about an intensely unique blend of joy for them and anxiety for yourself. You feel the pressure to work towards achieving these same things, and at the same time, you are way too young for them. Of course, it helps to remember that there is no one right life plan, and everyone will achieve what they want to at their own pace and in their own time. 

 Graduating university and moving into more career-oriented jobs is a slightly terrifying thought. We put the majority of our time, effort, and money into obtaining this degree, and while stressful in its own right, post-secondary education offers a comfortable routine that you get used to after four years. So, as the light at the end of the tunnel draws nearer and the “what’s next?” questions start pouring in, the uneasy feeling of the unknown sets in. Do I want to go to grad school? Jump into the workforce? The choices are endless. 

 There are a lot of skills one must learn and cope with when entering adulthood that can be daunting. Things like learning to cook for yourself, do your own laundry, taxes, and all that jazz. These things will come with time, but at the beginning of adulthood these can be quite tricky. Many of us are simply thrown into it and have no choice but to learn, which is absolutely an effective way to go about it. Learning from the more experienced adults around us, like parents, coworkers, or even fellow friends, is another very great way to get a solid grip on “adulting.”

Photo by Erda Estremera on Unsplash

And the big one; moving out. It happens at different times for all of us, but making the jump and leaving your parents’ home is an amazing yet crazy experience. It is a huge financial adjustment, with bills and groceries now becoming your own responsibility. It may not even be possible to do this until we’re much older than we’d like to be, which presents its own challenges and feelings. On the plus side, it is thrilling to have your own space to decorate and enjoy as you like. Being completely self-sufficient and living on your own terms is a great part of adulthood, but an adjustment nonetheless. Whether with friends, a partner, or completely solo, moving out is, in my opinion, at least, one of the biggest markers of entering adulthood.  

 So what can we do to start preparing right now? While adulthood may seem lightyears away for a lot of us, there are still things we can do to get our footing. Below are a couple of tips that could be helpful in giving you a head start!

Make long and short-term goals 

 Thinking about achievements you wish to accomplish, both for the near and distant future, is a wonderful way to start. If you begin thinking about goals now, you can make them much more achievable and break them down into steps. You can do little things even now to set yourself up for success! Getting a part-time job to start bulking up savings is a great start. Another is creating a savings account for a specific purchase you’d like to save up for. Even just mapping out a plan shows great initiative, and is a great habit to get into. This takes away a lot of the stress of some big achievements like making large purchases, or graduating from university, and makes them much more manageable.

Celebrate every step! 

 While it may feel silly, celebrating every step of your journey into adulthood is really motivating and fun. Whether it be finally reaching a goal you’ve been working towards, getting a new job, or finishing a particularly tough assignment, every win deserves recognition. No matter how small, the effort and time taken to get to this point surely took its toll. It is nice to have all of it be worth it in the end, and celebrating will make you want to keep going and keep climbing even higher. 

Growing up and leaving childhood behind has lots of challenges and unknowns, and can be incredibly scary. There’s a lot of unknown aspects that one is expected to simply figure out. Some aspects of adulthood come easier than others, and everyone has their own individual and unique growing pains. It can be reassuring to keep in mind that everyone goes through this uncomfortable phase of floundering; the phrase “fake it ‘till you make it” exists for a reason, right? Everyone has their own journey to figure out, and we are all exactly where we are supposed to be.