I'm at a weird age...
I'm 24 years old, and will turn 25 later this month. Last week when we met with our new accountant the first thing he said was "sorry I'm late, my kids we're driving me nuts. Do you guys have kids?" My first instinct is "hell no buddy, I'm only twenty..." and then I realize that a lot of people my age are married and do have kids.
Today, while there was construction going on by my house, I spent the majority of the morning at an internet cafe. My partner Mike and I got asked to take a survey for a college student who had a summer research grant and was doing research for her psych department. In the normal conversation that goes on when doing those things, I learned that she was going into her senior year and was still a good four years younger than me. Damn I'm getting old.
Whenever we go out to bars, I feel like we're either surrounded by the 30+ crowd and we feel young, or we're in with the college crowd and we're five years older than everyone else. When I hear a girl say she's 25 I think "wow, an older girl" and then I realize I AM 25 (or will be in 30 days)!
It's a weird, weird spot to be. Some of my friends are married, some have steady girlfriends, and some are single. Some still are in school and working part-time as waiters, some have professional careers, and some like us run our own company. Neither way is "right", it's just interesting to have such a split amongst people of the same age group.
None of us know quite which way to lean. We're not really full-fledged adults (whatever that means anyway) but we aren't really college kids either. Most of the time I just focus on enjoying life and having a good time, but every once in a while I start wondering if I'm "behind" others because my free time looks a lot like it did 5 years ago. Then again, I also run a corporation and I'm 24 years old so in that sense I'm significantly ahead of where most people are (again, if there really is such a thing as being "ahead").
I honestly have no clue where I'm going with this rant, other than the fact that being in that "quarter-life crisis" age group puts a unique pressure on a young entrepreneur. Being 22-30 is tough on most people, but the YE has so much to focus on that I think there is an added pressure put on you by friends and family, and by yourself. You are choosing a unique lifestyle at an age when most people are starting to settle into jobs and a family.
I have to wonder though: if you do the wife/kids thing first, there has to come a point in the next ten years where the lack of career focus early on catches up with you and you want to change jobs, but have the pressure of a family biasing your decisions. Conversely, if you settle the career stuff first you can focus on the family later on sans distractions. Of course life rarely is very cut and dry like that, and if the right person comes into your life I doubt anyone would say "I'm not getting married until I'm 35 because I need to stabilize my career first". I've sort of fell into the career-stability-first thing, so I'll let you know how that works out for me :)
Today, while there was construction going on by my house, I spent the majority of the morning at an internet cafe. My partner Mike and I got asked to take a survey for a college student who had a summer research grant and was doing research for her psych department. In the normal conversation that goes on when doing those things, I learned that she was going into her senior year and was still a good four years younger than me. Damn I'm getting old.
Whenever we go out to bars, I feel like we're either surrounded by the 30+ crowd and we feel young, or we're in with the college crowd and we're five years older than everyone else. When I hear a girl say she's 25 I think "wow, an older girl" and then I realize I AM 25 (or will be in 30 days)!
It's a weird, weird spot to be. Some of my friends are married, some have steady girlfriends, and some are single. Some still are in school and working part-time as waiters, some have professional careers, and some like us run our own company. Neither way is "right", it's just interesting to have such a split amongst people of the same age group.
None of us know quite which way to lean. We're not really full-fledged adults (whatever that means anyway) but we aren't really college kids either. Most of the time I just focus on enjoying life and having a good time, but every once in a while I start wondering if I'm "behind" others because my free time looks a lot like it did 5 years ago. Then again, I also run a corporation and I'm 24 years old so in that sense I'm significantly ahead of where most people are (again, if there really is such a thing as being "ahead").
I honestly have no clue where I'm going with this rant, other than the fact that being in that "quarter-life crisis" age group puts a unique pressure on a young entrepreneur. Being 22-30 is tough on most people, but the YE has so much to focus on that I think there is an added pressure put on you by friends and family, and by yourself. You are choosing a unique lifestyle at an age when most people are starting to settle into jobs and a family.
I have to wonder though: if you do the wife/kids thing first, there has to come a point in the next ten years where the lack of career focus early on catches up with you and you want to change jobs, but have the pressure of a family biasing your decisions. Conversely, if you settle the career stuff first you can focus on the family later on sans distractions. Of course life rarely is very cut and dry like that, and if the right person comes into your life I doubt anyone would say "I'm not getting married until I'm 35 because I need to stabilize my career first". I've sort of fell into the career-stability-first thing, so I'll let you know how that works out for me :)
posted by Adam McFarland at
8/02/2007 03:06:00 PM
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