Advice

Youth or Career? The Struggles of Today

A writer by the name of Taylor Cotter recently published an article titled A Struggle of Not Struggling, in a series called the quarter life crisis, for Huff Post College. Cotter, a female Journalist, tells the tale of giving up on her dreams and her youth. In her words, “A New York City life where I lived adventure after adventure, without forgetting any of the details for blog posts, articles, and novels to come, to be a fully employed, independent, 22-year old with an apartment and a car.”

First off, an apartment isn’t a horrible financial decision. Second, is it so bad to be 22-years old and wild and free with a huge student loan?

If you are Canadian college graduate, you have received the best education in the English-speaking world. Why shouldn’t you have debt from that? A good education is the best investment on earth. Stop complaining about student loans, they are the best kind of loan you could have. Billions of people would kill to have the opportunities that you have in front of you.

In her blog, Cotter gives details of the life she gave up:

What about New York City? What about freelancing, penning newspaper columns and urban adventures? What about the struggles that I see on Girls and the tales of credit card debt and ramen noodle dinners? Aren’t these the things that really make you 22?

“My ‘dream life’ took a backseat to pursuing a solid career at a solid company.” A solid company. From a generation that will bare the burden of rebuilding an economy destroyed by greed, we have learned that there is no such thing as a solid company or a solid job. Building our existence around work and material ambition has failed us.

The beautiful thing is, there is no amount of money that can buy being 22-years old and having a life of excitement and opportunity in front of you. If you can make it in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto, London or any of the other lively, aggressive and wonderful cities of the world, then at any point you can go back home and work as an Editorial Assistant for some “solid company.” You don’t get two chances at youth.

YOLO!!

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