Personal Entry

Today, I decided to sleep instead of doing things I need to do. During this break I decided to take an interim class and conducting research for a spring semester class that promises to kick my butt. I was given a case study for JCPenney, a client that we are submitting a full advertising campaign for. 

I find myself looking for things to do rather than reading my case study or writing a blog post.

I thought to myself while watching Weeds on Netflix and updating my facebook; "Why am I doing this, why can't I just pick it up and do it?" 

Our generation has so many things bombarding our minds including; video games, social networking sites, and mp3 players consuming our everyday lives. I believe that our "instant" way of life keeps us from reality, thinking “Oh, I can think of something better to do."

Blogger Evaluation

Writing for a blog is very different than any other writing. To me it feels like I’m writing an e-mail or a facebook post. It seems to be informal but conversational. At first it is hard to check it every day and make sure that I write on it but the instant I start writing it becomes second nature and easy. Personally, I thought this was going to be more of a diary post blog, a place where you would post about what you did that day and how it affected your life. I like that we chose a topic from the beginning.

           Writing about 20 year olds and how they are taking longer to growing up is interesting, I'm not sure that I can continue writing about it for four weeks. I’m not sure that it interests me as much as I thought it did in the beginning. At first I thought this topic was exciting because I could take the other point of view, from a 20 year olds stand point. But, it seems like it’s just my opinion and I don’t have a lot of resources to back up my view. I would like to learn why people are not taking the steps to grow up and what affects them to make other choices. Professor Klyde-Silverstein brought up a good point about helicopter parents, I would look deeper into this sub-topic and I would also like to survey students on what the meaning of ‘adults’ is to them.

Emerging Adulthood: Why?

        Emerging Adulthood defined by Jeffery Arnett includes five main features: the age of identity explorations, the age of instability, the age of self-focus, the age of feeling in-between, and the age of possibilities.

But why are adults taking this extra step? Young adults are moving back into their parents' homes because of the economy and the lack of entry-level jobs. Some college students continue onto grad school to continue their education to acquire a higher position. Because young adults are staying in school longer this may become the priority over marriage and children. 

This new life stage is more about reaching adulthood by graduating school, living on your own, and beginning a career.  More than half of us are moving in with our parents after college. 

I open this post to comments on why you think more Americans are moving in with their parents instead of living independently? 

First Blog Experience

            The purpose of this blog is to take the personal opinions of people in their 20s and why they feel they are going through emerging adulthood. Jeffery Jensen Arnett, a psychology professor at Clark University in Worchester, MA., explains emerging adulthood as the stage between the age of 18 and late 20s, where people need more education to survive in an informational-based economy. This stage focuses on identity exploration, self-focus, and “a sense of possibilities.”

My intention for covering this beat is to learn more about this topic and gain a better understanding on what people our age think about this added psychological stage. My question to my fellow classmates and 20 somethings; “do you feel in between or the need to adapt to the ever changing technology our generation faces?” It seems that we have yet to comment on if or how we are affected by our surroundings. I would like this blog to open up your voices on why it is taking us so much longer to grow up.

I do not have any direct experience with blogs or as a journalist, other than my experience at UNC. I am a little apprehensive in my ability to blog about a large topic and taking responsibility for keeping my blog updated. I am also excited to learn about blogging and how it will help me in the future.