Reflecting on Young Adulthood Years

Time spent in self-reflection is never wasted – it is an intimate date with yourself

Paul TP Wong

Welcome into the year 2022!! I hope that you have entered into it as well as you could have hoped for and that you are happy, healthy and/or healing from 2021.

The title suggests that I want to reflect on what is known as the best years of ones life – University! That is what my sister and late aunt used to tell me, because apparently once you start working life takes a turn on you and you wish to go back.

I always encourage reflecting in whatever way that you think is best – Journaling (quite popular) or speaking to someone who is willing to just listen without judgement or interruption (very NB!). Reflection does not mean you should dwell on the past. I think it should be used as a source of guidance in knowing where you are coming from, with all your failures and success, to pave the way to where you are going, with all the trials and triumphs to come.

Looking back so that the view looking forward in much clearer

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I was reading my own post that I had written in 2019 about being an adolescent and it inspired me because it was one of my best pieces, I believe and have been told.

The age of the early 20s has been all about the challenge of self-discovery and what comes after the initial degree qualification. My undergraduate was mostly self-made. That is one of my proudest accomplishments. I chose it, I created it and I stuck it out. It was crazy difficult making decisions on what I wanted to study. At the end of every semester, I expressed it as a traumatic experience. But as you know, there is nothing worth having if it is not challenging to get it. I became a commerce graduate and proud!

What came next was a pursuit for a teaching qualification. Many people saw this as a complete 180 degree change in direction. I do not think so. I believe my initial path was meant to lead me here and turns out it is quite a passion as you have probably read in my 7-part series titled Student-Teacher Chats. And now I am a PGCE graduate and even more proud! I am sort of tired of university at the moment, I need a study break of at least a year or two.

Not many people know where they want to be or what they want to do in their lives and that is perfectly okay. I still question myself sometimes because there is so much variety and option that life has to offer, it is difficult to decide. The question of “What problem do you want to solve?” might be a good place to start thinking from. It does not make things easier, but it might help making the path clearer. That is one of my greatest lessons in this past few years.

Adding on to lessons learnt, over the years I have had many people passing through my life, some who have stayed and others who have left with or without a word and life moves on. A long time ago, I was told that these years are when you make connections that you will carry through life. Yes, to some extent they were right, however after graduation, opportunities present themselves all over the country and even the world and unfortunately, some connections do not handle distance very well and the paths we choose may never cross again. However, I do cherish all the amazing and beautiful memories that we shared. I would not have had as much of a great time.

I have had to learn to be somewhat a version of independent. I do not think anyone is completely independent, we all co-exist in this world afterall, needing something from someone at some point. In this time, I tried to prove to people, and myself, that I can, not only survive, but also thrive. Turns out there are those that do not trust that you can, even some as close as family no matter what you do to prove them otherwise. I hope that as I continue to grow, I learn that it is no longer my job to go out of my way to prove what I can and can’t do, but to rather be true to myself and do what I want and need to do for me. Yes, I still continue to thrive!

Growth, or more specifically, aging has been interesting. Feels like the more I delve into my 20s, I notice more of what life has to offer. Responsibilities become slightly heavier and we hope to be strong enough to carry them e.g. paying rent, studying, finding employment and dealing with rejection a long the way, some things that I find normal. On the other side of life, age mates are getting engaged, married or starting families etc; I think that these are scary but the truth is that it’s actually what happens as we get into our 20s as we do have greater autonomy which is our main responsibility. In my reflection, I note that we are all in charge of our own paths and there is not a sole right one.

I do not quite have an end to my reflection process but I do want to say that, I am happy to have experienced all that I experienced, even the hardships which broke me a few times, but there is strength now. I travelled, I lived and I laughed. I met beautiful people. I tried all that I could try at the time and of course, I will still be trying more. I loved, but I also lost and felt that I would never recover, yet here I am, still in pursuit of life and some new endeavours.

I encourage everyone to do a little bit of reflection in whatever manner that suites you. It will never be too late!

Thank you for taking the time to read! Kindly like the post, comment any thoughts you might have down below and share widely!! Have a blessed week!

Love, light and appreciation!