Max Stephanou
With the pressures of preparing for the ‘real world’, it has become hard to truly connect with our age as students. Whether it be the unrealistic image we present on social media or the scramble to find a job or placement before they’re all gone, we have lost our sense of youth in a matter of years. However, our time is not slipping away. I, for one, am only 19 with a whole life ahead of me, and somehow, like many students, I have lost appreciation for that. The blessing and the curse of our generation is our ability to look into the future. As no other generation has been given the opportunities and tools to succeed, we have tunnel visioned on this privilege, chasing every opportunity and competing with others who seem to do better. The byproduct of this is that we have lost the ability to live in the present and just be there.
Our phones have disconnected us from the beauty of human interaction.
Put the phone away and live.
This truth is hard to swallow, but it is everywhere we go. The club night you only view through your camera lens, or the lecture where you spend the whole time on your phone. Our generation is defined by the fact that we grew up surrounded by technology. While our parents saw technology as a tool, we see it as a standard. Our phones have disconnected us from the beauty of human interaction. Rather than talking to the bartender, we prefer to order on the app. Rather than trekking up Derby Road with your friends, we prefer to order a cab and sit in silence. This has distanced us from the other humans we share this world with, and so as the world gets smaller, it starts to feel much larger.
Our screens silence these moments, and conversations turn into letters on a screen
While our phones do keep us informed and connected, there is a danger of them becoming all-encompassing. The free and undistracted enjoyment we felt as children is what we should strive for. Before we had our phones, our only entertainment was other people. But we are no different now. My fondest memories of my time at university so far have been moments of laughter and conversation face-to-face. This is made so difficult by the invasion of social media that we have facilitated ourselves. Our screens silence these moments, and conversations turn into letters on a screen. When our memories are diminished to an Instagram story or a TikTok, are they truly memories or just a way to show everyone else how much fun last night was? We can’t let our addiction to technology destroy our ability to talk. We need to put our phones away and enjoy the moment for ourselves.
How can we live if we’re not trying to?
Through the light and even the dark (as times can get really dark sometimes), we shouldn’t wish away our lives. We are still so young, and we should reconnect with that fact. When someone asks me, “What’s the plan after university?” I feel guilty for being unsure, and I never admit I haven’t thought it through. While it is great to have ambitions and goals, I see students anxious about the future (me included). But we don’t know what the future holds; in fact, it doesn’t even exist yet. The only thing that truly exists is the present, and we should find a way to be okay with that.
It is so easy to fall into the spiral of thinking about the future, but time keeps on marching and will happily leave us behind unless we march with it. Our generation is so disconnected from our age, as we once dreamt of being this old and now it’s arrived, all we can think about is being a year older. It is so difficult to hear someone say that university was the best time of their lives because it feels like you can never live up to that. There is so much pressure for university to be our greatest years that it actively prevents them from being that. Much of my time is spent believing I’ve missed out or I’m not doing university ‘right’.
However, we can’t reflect on something that isn’t over, and everyone’s experience will be different to the next person’s. We can either spend this time comparing it to others and waiting for a revelation to happen or simply live life doing what makes us happy, day in, day out, and hope we can repeat those same words.
Even after university, for some strange reason, we collectively decided we must join the rat race immediately, but that isn’t the case. While the pressures of financing life vary, joining the rat race so young robs us of our agency and youthfulness. A career will always be achievable, especially with the degree we are all here for, but being so young only lasts so long. Once we are chained to the working world, the independence we enjoy now will never be relived, so why speed that process up? The independence of being a student is so beautiful, and we can make it last longer if we please. Make those mistakes, give yourself a day to do nothing, do what you want and don’t let anything stop that.
Only a slave quantifies their existence by their productivity.
Only a slave quantifies their existence by their productivity. This generation is plagued by work and ‘hustle’ culture, before we even have true careers. When we believe we are only worth something by how productive we are, our sense of enjoyment and happiness is lost; the only thing that is truly worth something. Reconnecting with my hobby of writing in recent months has given me more joy than any part-time job or work experience could. I understand these are important for our employability, but that does not mean hobbies are not. Employers will care if we are passionate about something. A true interest can take you miles while ‘something to just throw on the CV’ will only take you metres.
We need to remove ourselves from this career-centric mindset, especially as young
adults.
We need to remove ourselves from this career-centric mindset, especially as young adults. Prioritise your relationships with other humans who care about your thoughts, feelings and interests because that’s what this age is all about: community. When we lose this connection with other people our age, we lose the perception of our own age. University is, most likely, the last time we will be surrounded by people our age, but we students continue to care more about those older than us and what they think. In a world where human interaction is dying, we need to take every opportunity to talk, share, love and listen. Our peers in blissful ignorance, but also in unique creativity, are so important, and the echo chamber of university is not too bad when the people around you are so supportive.
The world we live in fights to categorise us and keep us trudging forward, but we are at this beautiful age of freedom, so we should use our freedom to make the most of our lives…
Remember what you truly enjoy and don’t let it go. Whether it be reading, writing, film, sports, or music, it is what makes us happy, and it is what makes us human. The pressure of ageing does get overwhelming, and it’s hard to see time move forward and not feel like you’re falling behind. But, as a generation, we must change our mindset. There is no checklist for life or an end goal to achieve. Your life is yours, and you do whatever you want with it. To be in touch with our youthful selves is to have fun in its truest form, and society has managed to trick us into believing that this is a bad thing. The world we live in fights to categorise us and keep us trudging forward, but we are at this beautiful age of freedom, so we should use our freedom to make the most of our lives before we are forced to commit to a schedule and the monotony of working life.
Despite this, it is what the future holds – work, property, family – and the feeling of ageing is overwhelming. We aren’t there yet, so why don’t we give the lives we live now a second to breathe? A life of enjoyment and youth. Be young and be happy with that.
Max Stephanou
Featured image courtesy of Kevin Ku via Unsplash. Image license found here.
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