I found this to be a powerful article, perhaps because I am the almost-30, 20-something that's being referred to. It's fascinating to read words that reflect on your last decade, descriptively categorizing it as a possible "stage", and touching on the approaching transition into official adulthood. As for validity, I am convinced this to be a legitimate stage; although I have my reservations concerning how to proceed. Isn't the unhinged quality of the "emerging adulthood" stage essential to the process? Haven't we always been free to break away, explore, challenge ideals and prove our autonomy? How could we ensure that we don't encourage a continually dependent generation into the 30's and beyond?
Today and for the last 6 1/2 years, I've worked in a work group where the median age is in the 40's. I was told incessantly to not get married until I'm 30, that my opinions and emotions were too transient to consider heavily and respectively, and I lent an ear to a slew of regretful narratives about children, divorce and infidelity. When I was 22, this overwhelming sense of doom became associated with commitment. Remarkably, my dreams came into a narrow focus and my ability to confidently write my own story without outside influence began when I was almost 25. I'm what many call a "late-bloomer". Except, according to this article, perhaps there's reform in motion that'll retitle me as a quality "emerging adulthood" example. We shall see!
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