Adultolescent?

I know it's been a while since my last post, but I feel like with a recent article I came across, my retirement had to end. Granted, while I do hate to spew vitriol, but I need to get this off my chest.

Recently, there has been a great deal of research into the new phenomenon called "adultolescense" (as if it's a real thing). Obviously coming from a fusion of "adolescent" and "adult" implying that there are some people in my generation who while fit the biological criteria of adulthood, haven't matured and taken on adult-like lifestyles. The Wall Street Journal wrote of this as being something more popular among men then women in an article coyly title "Where have all the good men gone?"

Essentially, the typical "adultolescent" suffers from Peter Pan syndrome (as articulated from the Huffington Post) where they live outside of time and responsibility. It's as if they know they should grow up, but why? College life is fun, so why stop after college?

After doing some more reading, I became more and more bothered. Many would complain that these adults are overeducated and under-qualified for the jobs they take on and further, aren't using their time and resources effectively. Strange how someone with a PHD in Psychology could find the time to research a less popular demographic (as mentioned by the Huffington Posts initial article) who doesn't use their time wisely.

Perhaps more could be done by those with PHD's to serve the community of young adults rather than creating a straw-man caricature of "generation y."

In any case, I struggle with this silly title because the article is rather popular and the idea is frustratingly pervasive. Yes, I have a beard, so I appear to be a hipster. Yes, I am socially liberal, and prefer Pabst Blue Ribbon over some overly priced and equally over seasoned microbrew. However, when I drag myself out of bed each morning at 5 'o clock to get to my job each morning, I don't have any urge to succumb to my Peter Pan syndrome and fly instead of driving my car.

Frankly, I don't understand the sensationalism in such a minute demographic. Being labeled as unmotivated because of the year in which I was born is a bit too much for me to not be phased by.

Luckily, this sensationalism of the stereotypical stoner is surpassed by the incredible ability of my generation. We are entering the workplace with fresh ideas, humility for superiors, and a work-ethic which pulls us into our jobs even after St. Patty's Day because we knew better than partying the night before like we are free of obligation. More of the people I have met my age hold down jobs which merit their education, pay their bills (on time), and do work at home even after they leave the office (gasp!).

I don't wish to make this sound like I'm tooting my own horn. I still have the immature neuroses which I believe stifle my true potential as an adult. The purpose of the post is to praise those who are bringing our generation a good name.

So here's to you; young men and women who moved out simply to be on their own. Raise your glasses, which during the workweek contains the only beer you'll drink that night. Make merry, for you are celebrating adulthood, on the weekends because you have work on Monday and you need to bring your best stuff in with you. "Adultolescence" is an archetype of the older generations construction to rationalize a few unmotivated potential titans.

The good news is that while the paradigm is one of another's construction, we can be the ones to bring it crashing down with a quiet "ah, I was mistaken" on their part.

Keep doing work son (daughter).

One Semester Down

Checkpoints are very helpful in life. They help us take inventory of development which has been occurring over given intervals of time, and help us make goals for the next series of changes to be made.

I am currently nestled in a checkpoint now. My first semester as a paid teacher. After logging in long hours of work, and longer hours of solitude at home, I have finished my the first half of my first year of teaching. Not only is this the first 6 months in a new profession, but the first six months in a new city within a new stage in life.

At first, it all felt like a terrible vacation. I was a new kid in a new city with a new job, and while I have developed a recently appreciated degree of independence in my college years, it didn't feel sufficient enough to take on Richmond. I felt like I was thrown a degree, then I was thrown into a stage of life I was ill equipped to take on. I was prepared, but I wasn't ready, and as time went on, I felt more and more behind the 8-ball of the life I feel I have been called to lead.

However, this wasn't because I wasn't looking at the task at hand, but instead I viewed the task through a birds-eye and entirely too consequential view. I thought that I was the epicenter of my, and my student's, existence. As time went on, I discovered my own insignificance in the environment I laid claim to. Richmond's lights wouldn't go out because I didn't have a social life yet, and my students weren't really mathematicians who were being disenfranchised by my green-horned nature in the educational system.

A friend of mine wisely put it this way;

"For good kids, the teacher in the classroom makes no difference. A students are A students in solitary confinement and F students are F students in an environment of academic enlightenment."

He wasn't saying that a tiger can't change his stripes, but that it wasn't my job to change them. Similarly, this attitude pervaded my thinking in other outlets. People weren't leaving me in my apartment on friday nights, I simply didn't have a place to go yet and people to keep me company there.

After a long period of needless responsibility for circumstances, I became free from my own egotistical worldview. Instead of taking on the plight of my own life, I decided to opt out of ultimate responsibility and live as a man in a world.

A man. I still find this more as an adjective than a noun, and I grapple with finding my place in its meaning.

Side note aside, I can plainly see the direction of my own growth, and I am pleasantly excited about the future in its embrace. Granted, the embrace includes a tight grip. I have to be uncomfortable with certain area's of my life and I can't skirt away from certain areas of deficiency.

The most glaring one being that of a selfish person. I have been expecting people to reach out to me, give to me, and to provide me with relationship. I haven't been focused on giving, and I haven't been showing any inclination to serve others. While some points of life require us to be served, I haven't exactly been the catalyst in getting out of that place. If anything, I've been slowing the reaction down.

Which brings me to my goal; to give. My life isn't hampered with any deficiency outside of my own relational beggar entitlement. This requires maturity in breaking free from. I need to enter a room of people not thinking about who can be my next partner in crime, but rather what I can offer those within its walls.

One semester down.