Young Adults Tag

I’ll say it: if there’s one thing I’m great at, it’s making colossal, oh-god-I-just-fucked-my-whole-life-up mistakes. If I were to trace the origins of this unfortunate trait, I’d say it stems from a combination of me being inherently spacey and not always thinking things all the way through. This will become more evident as the list goes on. Now, I’m by no means perfect, nor do I even completely have my shit together, so take this as a “don’t be like me” cautionary tale. DON’T DO THIS SHIT:   1. LivingRead More

  First, you decide what kind of tone you want for the night     Then, the pregame…aka probably the only part of the night you will remember                         You might confront your roommate about how they never clean up their shit                         You will probably end up at a bar and probably see something shocking                     Then youRead More

Once school is all done with, most young adults believe that being a professional is all about nailing the job and title. The thing you come to realize is there’s more to it than just getting the job. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that your dream job doesn’t equal your dream workplace. Learning to deal with people, deal with situations, and how to correctly do your job all come with experience, but there are a few things that automatically are engrained in us when entering the work field.   CommunicationRead More

So, you landed your first real big boy/girl job… Congrats! Gone are the days of scooping ice cream, shepherding crying campers, and asking “Do you want fries with that?” because you wear suits or heels to work now. Applause, applause. Here are some things to remember for your first gig as an “adult” in the “real world”:   Fake it til you make it There are going to be some things that the boss throws at you that completely stump you. Probably on the first day. Probably four times thatRead More

In this moment, you are afraid. You are afraid of being successful in your dream job you just landed. Afraid of failing grades in one of your classes at university. Afraid of possibly getting the opportunity to make a girl happy for the rest of her life. Afraid of possibly getting the opportunity to make a guy happy for the rest of his life. Afraid to ask for help in any part of your life. Afraid of letting YOURSELF be happy for the rest of YOUR life. In this moment,Read More

Today is my 24th birthday. What better way is there to celebrate than to make a listicle of all the important things I’ve learned in my 24 years on this planet? Without further ado, here are some of the key lessons I’ve learned thus far in life:   1. Not everyone finds offensive jokes funny. Some people find them offensive. 2. Never buy drinks at sporting events or concerts. Pocket shots and flasks are your wallet’s best friends. 3. Your parents actually have good advice, at least most of theRead More

This is a period of time many “experts” like to classify as “emerging adulthood.” It sounds more glorious than it actually is. Unfortunately, “well adjusted” is a label we like to give ourselves for a few years of happy delusion. As young adults, we still feel everything (those teen hormones still need a Xanax), but now, we’re forcing ourselves to deal with situations in a “grown-up” manner. The Kübler-Ross model describes the 5 steps of loss and grief to be denial, anger, bargaining, depression, then acceptance. But we’re young adults, soRead More

Your first day of work is a barrage of introductions to people that you will spend eight hours a day, five days a week with until you retire or leave. On your first day, here are the five people you will want to spend some extra time with, smile a little bigger with, and make a bigger impression upon. 1. The Janitor Ha ha, right? No. This is not a joke. The janitor is perhaps your most important new friend in the office. On your first day, your chaperone mightRead More

This one goes out to the Class of 2014. Whether you’re graduating this weekend, next weekend, or in June (yeah, I went to UCSB, I know all too well the pains of the quarter system and its late graduation dates), whether you attended a private school with 2,000 people or a public school with 20,000, whether you majored in dance or biochemistry, this article is for you.   I’m not exactly a perpetual optimist. A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece about some of the harsh realities of post-gradRead More

May 2014 is upon us. It marks 1 year from when the best four years of my life (so far) ended and I entered this thing people call “the real world.” I haven’t seen many of the people with whom I shared classes, horrible professors, drinks, and memories for almost 12 months now. And soon, the class of 2014 will join me in the world I have not yet completely learned to love. There are so many things I wish I would have known about the post-grad life, but it isRead More

1. You’ll learn to erase the word “embarrassment” from your vocabulary. Greatness and embarrassment are closely connected. If you aren’t willing to be vulnerable and take risks, you’ll never meet your full potential.   2. You’ll discover your non-negotiables.  We’ve all grown up being told that acting selfishly is not okay, but when it comes to your personal and professional life, sometimes it is. Each of us will learn that there are certain things that we just aren’t willing to put up with. And that’s fine. Realizing your non-negotiables willRead More

Are you broke and hungry? A starving college student or recent graduate with no culinary expertise…or money? Here’s how you can eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week – all for under $60.   It may sound crazy, but local farmers markets, such as Sprouts, can be one of the cheapest grocery stores… even compared to corporate stores such as Safeway or King Soopers. Stores that get most of their produce locally tend to have not only better, organic foods, but shockingly low prices as well. Through my yearsRead More

If you’re a functioning human being, you need to have a good LinkedIn profile. “But Writtalin, I love my job!” said no one ever, “I would never want to leave!” Not a valid excuse. At some point in your future, you’ll either need or want to begin the job search anew, and you’ll kick yourself for not keeping your profile up-to-date when you had the resources to do so.   Now it just looks like you’ve been working at the same pizza restaurant that you delivered for in high school forRead More

1. All of your friends are getting married. All of your friends are wild and single. You can’t win. You feel surrounded by the friends who, a) got married so young that you question why you aren’t getting married, or, b) by friends who are so ambitiously single that you question the relationship you are in. 2. You have money, but not a lot of money. You’re out of college and making some dollars. But those dollars run out scary fast when you start shopping for two. Plus, life insurance,Read More