To Be A Young American Today-20s

Arnett would like to see us choose a middle course. “To be a young American today is to experience both excitement and uncertainty, wide-open possibility and confusion, new freedoms and new fears,” he writes in “Emerging Adulthood.” 

After reading this article, I have to admit, I had information overload. There is so much information on every little aspect on the 20s, that it made it hard for me to follow. One train of thought leads to something else and so on and so forth. All in which I can agree with, but also too much. In the passage I've posted above, I felt that the statement is true. Being in my 20's, I feel like I've reached this stage of excitement, uncertainty, and confusion. I've been through a lot growing up. Being raised by not only my parents, but by other family members because of how close my whole family is. My grandparents come from different parts of the Philippines. They came from different backgrounds, where they bring a different cultures and upbringings once they come to America. 
The expectations of what you're family has on you versus your own. The expectations become greater. I always hear from my family how they didn't have this, they didn't have that, back when living in the Philippines. I understand how much more difficult it was back then, but I feel nowadays it is just as difficult. We may not necessarily live in a 3rd world country, but we definitely face issues everyday a lot more now than before. From job losses to prices going up everywhere. Anyone living anywhere will face what life gives them. We are all put through a struggle. We head off on this journey to reach a certain destination point which sometimes isn't what you thought it'd be. We gear off to a different destination. Everyone goes through their share of difficulties and face challenges where life gets the best of them. Going through these difficulties push you to your limit and make you want to explore into different areas you've never thought you'd touch. You either live the life your parents want you to live because they've had it rough and only want the best for you, or you take a different route. 

At this stage, for me, I feel that I'm all over the place. Heading in different directions to find myself and figure out what's best for me. The skills that I've learned from being put in the most difficult situations, the failures, what I like and don't like have made me realize that I am not certain as to what I want to do or where I want to go, I just know I'm working on heading in the right direction. Putting myself back in school, finding another job, working hard. We need to do what's best for us as individuals. We learn different lessons as a kid, as a preteen, then at 21 which is considered as an adult. From what our parents have experienced, to what they teach us, help us grow to become young adults.

“emerging adults develop skills for daily living, gain a better understanding of who they are and what they want from life and begin to build a foundation for their adult lives.” If it really works that way, if this longer road to adulthood really leads to more insight and better choices"