THE CAREER JOURNEY: TRANSITION FROM TEEN TO ADULTHOOD- Sazia Jindal
Sazia Jindal/ January 4,2025
“I have spent 18 years of my life in my Home and if I once stepped out of it, my home would become some tourist place for me in which I would only be able to return during vacations.”, feelings of an 18 year old.
Every one of us have taken birth for a purpose. For everyone, there is a certain job, which is our DREAM! Someone brightly said that CHOOSE A JOB YOU LOVE, AND YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO WORK A DAY IN YOUR LIFE. Well, I absolutely agree with this but is it easy in any way to get the job one loves?
If it is a job that one loves, then it is obvious that a person is ready to work and put hundred percent into that job, but the journey to achieve one and get your hands into that job is quite not easy.
The arising competition that we have in our society and the lack of opportunities which we have in this society is shattering away the dreams of many people! People all over are discussing various different topics, but no one is discussing the real struggle which a person who is in the phase of transition from teenage to adulthood has to face.
Students and mostly teenagers are not able to work and study for the jobs which they are meant for. Rather, they are just going with the flow which society has made. They are doing the things which everyone else is doing. And guess what? We cannot blame teenagers for that! The outside pressure, which is being made on them cannot be neglected! But if someone stands up and thinks of doing something different then again s/he is stopped, not always by the parents, but by the consequences.
Let me explain this with an example- say a teen who is really talented and dreams of becoming a journalist is from some small city, where everyone is going for streams like medical and non-medical and that place has all the opportunities and institutions for science and maths students . Now that teenager who dreams to be a journalist has all the caliber and all the talent to be one but guess what the city in which she or he lives has no opportunities at all. People might come and give suggestions that so what? The child can go for some good College outside! But my friends what about the amount of competition to clear that entrance exam of College which is more than thousands kilometres away from city.
Now people might say that the child is enough talented. This point is agreed, but what about the preparation of exam and the different kind of criteria and syllabus of entrance exam of College, for example symbiosis in Pune! Proper guidance and proper coaching is required of course, but that coaching and guidance is not available in the city and neither proper online courses are available. And even if somehow the talented teen manages to get through the admission process and get an admission in the dream college then what next?
Imagine a child who from the starting of his/her whole life has never lived away from home and parents. How will that child manage to live in a place, which is more than thousands of kilometres away? For people, it is so easy to say that go and get admission in some best college of India. But surviving at such a place away from parents and families is definitely not easy. There must be so many concerns in the mind of that teenager like safety concerns, all of us have heard about that rape case in Kolkata. I think for any teenage girl listening of this case is enough to stop her from stepping out of home. The terror and phobia gets built in day by day because of such cases, because of the lack of safety, which we have!
Also, the teenager might fear about lack of friends, because obviously, the teen would not know anyone there at first sight, the kind of hostel she would get, the kind of food, the kind of roommates and endless list of concerns she would have.
And not only this, there are many more concerns. What about the social adjustment which these 18 year olds have to make, it is easy in no way living away from our home and connecting with strangers and the right people which are not toxic is, definitely not easy! People say that 18 year olds are adults and that they are enough mature, but guess what? For this big transition in their life, they’re not. They need support.
It is a big decision- about which College is right? Can they go in it? Is the families financial condition, allowing them? Would they be able to academically adjust because definitely the way school teaches us and the way in which colleges teach us has a big difference. And are they enough independent and enough mature to take this big responsibility of taking care of all their own needs themselves? What about the identity exploration and identity crisis which they can have? What about the cultural adjustments and the lack of guidance? What about Home sickness? What about the financial literacy? All these things are kept under the carpet and I absolutely agree with the fact that it is very important for an adult to know and learn all these, but learning them suddenly?
Getting thrown into such a scenario, all of a sudden? I mean, that Mama’s girl or boy, or that Dady’s girl or boy gets suddenly thrown into such an environment after living 18 years with parents and family. I agree that getting out of comfort zone is important, but all of a sudden? Shouldn’t this process of getting out of comfort zone be slow? That comfortable shell in school, where even if you get bullied once then you can straightaway complain, and that bully gets suspended!…
And you know what the major issue which even I had in my mind was that if once I stepped out of my home, then I would never be able to live in it like I used to do. I mean, I have spent spent 18 years of my life in that Home and if I once stepped out of it, my home would become some tourist place for me in which I would go only during vacations.
How can I leave my parents? They are my everything! Let me explain this- If I would go to some college, which is thousands of kilometres away from my home for graduation then of course every week, I cannot return home, I would do my graduation and then my post graduation, and then maybe I would get a job, which of course would not be in my own city and my home, I would only be able to come home during vacations! How is that easy for a person who has spent 18 years with parents and in that Home?
Why is our society underestimating the psychological and emotional aspects of this transition phase. People very casually say that if you are talented just go and get admission in some good college, but what about an eighteen year-old’s psychological well-being, and emotions? Logics are not always everything. Now think about the amount of confusion, the teen would have like definitely job is also very important, earning is important, money is important but we cannot ignore the mental health and psychology in this transition phase. And come on health and safeties are like the most important things. We cannot ignore the safety and yes that 18 year old person is not enough mature to take care of herself or himself at some place which is thousand kilometres away from Home.
This issue needs a lot of attention! Our society should consider mental health also something. Obviously, the rate of unemployment, the poverty in the society, it scares us but the safety concerns and the health issues even they scare people at this phase. At all, these things stop a person from becoming what s/he could be! We don’t know how many excellent people exist in the society, but they are not able to come up and show up their talents because of all the hilarious things available for them.
In conclusion, this phase from adolescent to adulthood is definitely not at all easy. These 18 year old have to face a lot and definitely the support of the society is very important. Everyone must be empathetic towards these teens. Everyone must support them in their career journey.
NOTE: The views expressed are personal. The writer is a student of class 12, Mount Litera Zee School, Patiala.
