“You’re 21 and you still sleep until 10 a.m.?! Where’s all this young energy going?”

It’s going into preparing for the brightest future that we can make for ourselves.

If you’re in your teens to your late twenties, questions like this are what makes your first cup of coffee a necessity. Yes, it is scientifically proven that we harvest more energy. Yes, we are able to balance school, work, and a social life. Yes, we are the hardest workers. Yes, it takes everything in us to strive for greatness.

Education

Whether we are taking classes or not, we take lessons from every aspect of life. If I’ve learned something from my 21 years on this wild planet, it would be that life is a gamble but you must take it for what it throws at you. We wouldn’t be humble and inquisitive without the help of our failures. Thankfully, we have the drive to bounce back from any curveball thrown our way.

This trial and error remains with everyone throughout their lifetime, but for young adults, it is our daily wake up call. Experiencing life is the most beautifully exhausting thing.

For those who are enrolled in a trade or higher education know how brutally demanding the coursework can be. College is no joke. I have pulled countless hours outside of the classroom to teach myself the material. The self-dedication for collegiate success is an immense weight that brings a new level of exhaustion.

Work

It is impossible to be out of work at this age. Life is beautiful but expensive. Many college/trade students work part-time or full-time in order to make ends meet. Yes, this work (most likely) is not a demanding career like our elders have, but it is more work on top of our studies. Having experienced being a full-time student and a full-time employee, I can tell you that sleep is the last priority. As if balancing the newly gained freedoms with the tie downs of bills wasn’t enough, a mix of work and school deadlines are killer. If we look completely fried, it’s due to the overbooking of our mental calendar.

Mental stability

Speaking of mental thoughts, the pressure to decide what to do with our lives is the ultimate sleep stealer. For some, it is easy to see where their passion lies, but for others (like me), it may take months to years to evaluate everything. Just think. This is the time for us to take every correct course of action to ensure we have a successful and fulfilling life. While we are still struggling to make sense of the real world, we are faced with the crushing pressure to make our life decision quick enough to apply to programs and internships on time. In this faster pace, higher education driven society it is almost expected for young adults to have their life plan by the time they graduate high school. Uhm hello?? Self-research takes time does it not?? The rush to be the youngest innovator is a huge contributor to the lovely permanent bags under our eyes.

So no, we are not too young to be this tired. We strive hard to ensure we are staying in our highest lane. Endless study nights, double shifts and the evaluation of our passions and commitments have earned us the 20-minute power nap.