They say that when you turn 25, you experience a quarter-life crisis. I don't think I'm going through one yet, or maybe I've been experiencing once since I got into my 20s, I'm not exactly sure. I decided to ask someone fellow 25 year-olds and former 25 year-olds and see how they have gone through it, what they have experienced, and how they felt.
Whether it be a crisis financially, socially, job-related, etc. the answers were very diverse in some ways and very similar in other ways. This is what they had to say:
1.
"My quarter-life crisis is a feeling that I'm way far behind where I should be in life in terms of financial independence and stability, having a career, my education, living on my own, and relationships. Essentially, a feeling that I'm playing catch up in every facet of my life." - Anonymous
2.
"I was in a long distance relationship throughout college and once we graduated we decided to move in together. In a Catholic household, that was not possible without getting married. So I married my boyfriend of seven years to find out within a couple months of living together that after four years away in college, we were no longer the same people. It was very difficult to love and live with someone that was very different than what you had imagined.
"There were a lot of disagreements, which lead to unhappiness. We were each others' first everything so we decided that maybe we just needed to meet other people and maybe that would open our eyes. Well, in doing so, I ended up meeting an amazing girl whom I fell in love with instantly. The connection I had was not forced like with my husband — everything just flowed so nicely. I ended up leaving my husband and coming out as gay to my family and friends, which was very very difficult in a Catholic household. My father, till today, resents me and we barely talk because of it, my mom doesn’t really touch the subject at all.
"It is still very difficult being that my family loved my ex-husband, but it took a lot for me to realize it was my life and I had to do what I had to do so that I could be happy. Yay, quarter life crisis!" —Nayara
3.
"I feel like nothing can go right honestly. I am unhappy at my job but I can't find another one. I've been looking for a new job for months, I've done so many applications and am not getting a single response. Being an adult is hard. Paying bills and having to budget is just overwhelming at times. I literally go to work, go home, eat dinner, shower and go to bed every day. I maybe get one day off a week and am just physically and emotionally drained.
"If I was able to I'd quit my job and focus on me and my mental health but that's impossible. I need time away from work to focus on myself but I can't take time off of work because I can't afford to. My life is just a cycle of going to work and home and I just want to get in a different cycle. I see all my friends going out, having a good time, going on vacations, spending time with family and I'm at work. Literally, can't tell you the last time I got a day to just focus on myself and do something as simple ( but satisfying) as getting a mani/pedi." — Samantha
4.
"25 is the year when I died inside but my career did great." — Audrey
5.
"It started hitting me at 24. When I was younger, I thought at 25 I would be getting married and having kids at 27, but that wasn't happening for me. I had a job and I felt frustrated at my company. I wasn't growing there and I was ready to go back to grad school but I was overwhelmed with taking the GRE and getting prepared. I watching everyone around me get married.
"When I turned 25, I decided to do everything I wanted to do to combat the crisis. I chopped my hair off, I went skydiving, I got scuba certified even though I had a deep fear of the ocean, and I traveled by myself to Japan. On that trip, I learned a lot about myself. I realized grad school was it and applied to school in Barcelona and now here I am and now I'm in Africa." — Stephanie