Emerging Adults
Being an adult means that one person must go through stage of different kinds of relationships. It is not how or when that makes a person become an adult, but what they learn. Each relationship is going to be different for every person. In the book, Emerging Adulthood, Arnett talks about some of the main qualities the relationships are part of. The five main qualities are identity explorations, instability, self-focused age, feeling in-between, and possibilities. In the time when a person is considered an emerging adult, they will have had some very different experiences than others.
Identity exploration is the time in which a young emerging adult can try new things. Just as when a person was old enough to drive, or drink it adds excitement in someone’s life. It was a new obstacle to overcome. Back in the 1970’s people had no choice on what they did. Women could not have any real job because after they got married it was time for kids. So they had to stay home and clean and take care of the children. The men had to get jobs right away to support the family. But now people get to have choices. They get to decide on if they want to stay at home after high school, get a job, or even stay in school to reach a degree.
At the end of senior year the main question floating around everyone’s head is, what am I going to do now? This will be the being of the relationship stage of self-focus. With every emerging adult now is the time of the main choice for themselves. Either they will just get a job and work for the rest of their lives; or they will go to college. No other person can make that decision for them; they are going to do what they want to do for themselves. For the emerging adults that are going to go to college and received their degree they are already a step ahead. They get to start off with more money and more jobs are available to them. Some of the emerging adults get to save more money by living at home and pay only the bills that they...
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