In retrospect, it often seems like society is telling you “you’re worthless and need hand-holding” in your 20s. Even for college graduates, the most you are good for is competing for entry-level positions, nonprofit gigs, or teaching positions. This is a time period when the generation before you has determined that you can exert the most energy and be compensated the least. After all, you’re only 20-something leaving the safe haven of your parents’ house or the safe haven of a college campus.
In a perfect utopia, this would be ideal; but a perfect utopia isn’t where our capitalist society sits. And if you deviate from being a white straight male with economically sound parents, this reality could actually be hell for you. “Adulting,” or how we millennials categorize the coming of age phase, can look very different from the American Dream that you have been sold since you were in elementary school, largely based off your identity and network. But before we even dissect any of that, let me mention why I think it is actually a good idea to have 20-something-year-olds exert maximum effort and be compensated the least.
An individual in their 20s, as I previously implied, is coming either from a college campus or the shelter of their parents. If you are stepping off a college campus, your brain has been widened both physically and abstractly by the many atrocities and advancements of history. While you’re marveling at the progression of modernity, you are also horrified by the divisive actions taken by humans in the past to meet scarcity. Coincidentally, many young people during this period of their lives turn to activism and social justice; thus birthing a fire for service moving out of college campuses.
This “fire for service” is why it makes sense for young people to exert more energy, largely because their passions are still steering the direction for a career. It also makes a lot of sense to offer these young people entry-level positions in profit-oriented companies. For one, it seems logical out of respect for seniority. But secondly, the passion behind that “fire for service” will eventually die out and be replaced by other passions. This leads to young adults changing their career or changing positions within their industry, which at times may be a liability to some organizations and corporations.
On the other hand, if you are just leaving your parents’ shelter, the same logic applies in giving these young adults entry-level positions, but these young adults may not have that passion to save the world and are less likely to be teachers without a teaching degree. Granted that you have acquired a high school diploma or something else equivalent, apprenticeship seems to really be your only hope. If you can start at a company right after your diploma and work your way up, you might actually be doing better than many young adults with degrees. But again, I ask you; how likely is this for a young adult in today’s society without assistance from relatives?
Taking all of these considerations into account, young adults in today’s society are left with some tough decisions. For one, as a college graduate, you are torn between the dwindling salaries of nonprofit organizations, the tight-rigged environment of for-profit companies, and the insurmountable struggles of teaching. For the young adult with no college degree, you are either confined to the same company or you are forced into an industry where you’re competing for labor and part-time positions. Both sets of young adults, in turn, are competing for employers by pinning educational experience against occupational experience. For the sake of keeping this piece short, I will focus on the young adults who are recent college grads.
For many talented college grads, especially given the politico-economic environment of today’s world, their heart speaks social reform but many are unsure where they fit in these reforms, or if it is worth devoting their time and energy to activities of such reforms. For those who are unwilling to put their passion in social reforms, nonprofits and the education sector are out of the picture, leaving them with the tight-rigid environments of for-profit companies that make them compete among each other like circus acts.
Even for those who enter the nonprofit sector, their days may be numbered.
In my opinion, how many young people go into the nonprofit sector, and how long they stay in that sector, will largely be determined by how our economy is doing at the time. As aforementioned, nonprofit salaries are dwindling, and even if they weren’t, the costs of living in most of these cities are rising. This leaves nonprofits relying on volunteerism and outdated leadership, even though we all know young people are the backbone of social justice movements. Teaching remains one of the only sectors I see more young people committing to staying with for longer years. Even with the insurmountable obstacles of teaching, many young people of color feel they owe society for putting them in a position to get a degree, thus, they are more likely to join programs such as Teach For America, Uncommon Schools, etc. Even with this sentiment, many low-income communities and rural regions still lack teachers of color or male teachers, and many school districts still struggle to retain young teachers after the first two years.
To sum it up, it is a bit insulting to limit young people to these positions, but it gets even narrower once we include the divisive ways that society oppresses us. So, good luck reaching a managerial positions by your 30s if you’re a person of color or a woman in the for-profit sector. And if we are in a recession or bouncing back from one, good luck getting a job in general. You are also less likely to have “economically sound” relatives if you are a person of color; you actually might be the first to graduate from college in your family, so who are you really turning to?
Alas, I urge you to think back to your 20s, or if you are currently in your 20s, I leave this question in closing: How much are you willing to personally struggle for the sake of doing good in the world?
Izzy Okunlola is a Nigerian native who grew up in Providence, RI. He is a 2015 graduate of DePauw University and is currently working as the youth organizer for Granite State Organizing Project. He is a bit of an introvert and philosophical in nature, but also loves to travel, enjoys photography, and appreciates all forms of art. He has been described as a young “renaissance” man, plagued by a compulsive obsession with time and food. You can reach him at izzy@granitestateorganizing.or
