In 2025, a year marked thus far by acute political frenzy, reaching the age of 20 is not just a celebration of life, but a daunting reminder of adulthood’s expectations and responsibilities. With the post-graduate world on the horizon, these 20-year-old Northeastern students reflected on what it means to have two decades of life experience under their belt.
“It feels like you have to become an adult much quicker in 2025,” said Daniel Rateau, a third-year music and communications studies combined major.
As the cost of living has risen, so has the difficulty in acquiring basic necessities, Rateau said.
“Even if you’re looking to live some sort of exorbitant, fancy life, I think that not only is that more far-fetched, but even living a simplistic life is far-fetched,” he said.
As Rateau said, the sharp increase in housing and grocery prices, catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, has left the next generation of adults struggling for financial stability.
Libby Glaser, a second-year health science and psychology combined major, said the pressure to grow up comes not only from economic insecurity but from peers and broader societal expectations.
“Some of the things I worry about — like my self-image, where I see myself, where I should be at 20 — versus where I am and comparing myself to other people. I probably should be worrying less about and more focused on the things that got me here,” Glaser said.
For many 20-year-olds, the incoming decade is one that promises independence and self-discovery. However, this journey has been interrupted by the fast-paced and interconnected digital age.
“I feel like it’s harder to be more original,” Glaser said of social media. “The different trends and different things you’re exposed to, I feel like, really limits my creativity.”
Aran Dharma, a second-year data science major, said he feels burdened by his own expectations of not only adulthood, but also the college experience.
“I get worried about if I’m making the best use of my time, both in terms of setting myself up for the future, and also in terms of, ‘Am I enjoying myself as much as I could be right now?’” Dharma said.
The solution, he said, is to strike a balance.
“People really hype up college as some of the best years of your life, so I’m making sure I’m doing as much as I can and having as much fun as I can,” Dharma said.
At Northeastern, ranked the 16th-most liberal college in the U.S. by Niche, many students also fear that their situation will only worsen under President Donald Trump’s administration.
“The current forming oligarch is not something that I take too lightly,” said Sophie Crystal, a second-year business administration and psychology combined major.
Growing increasingly discontent with the nation’s governing body, Crystal said she feels powerless as a college student.
“I can go to a protest, and I can call senators and I can try and write articles, but like, it’s never really enough … in the moment, you never see change,” she said.
Explaining the current anxieties of young adulthood to previous generations has posed a considerable challenge, said Niki Cimino, a second-year business administration major.
“Being told that we have it super easy when the goal of every previous generation has been to make it easy for us is a little bit disheartening,” Cimino said.
Rateau said that the negative stigmas surrounding Gen Z are based not in reality, but are the result of the cultural disillusionment that older generations face.
“We are not lazy, we are not undetermined,” Rateau said. “We work very hard, it’s just a different time, and it’s much more difficult for us to do things.”
Looking to the future, Rateau would like more people to be attentive to how political decisions impact their lives.
“I’d like a lot more people to care about certain issues more [and] realize that … a lot of these issues are intertwined, in that they do affect us,” Rateau said.
Similarly to Rateau, Dharma believes that collective empathy is the way forward for a society in need of healing.
“One thing that I think we could all benefit from is talking about things that make us stressed and talking about things that worry us,” Dharma said. “I think you feel a lot less alone that way, knowing that everybody’s sort of sharing the misery where it exists.”
But amidst the gloom and cynicism, these students find that there is still hope and excitement.
Crystal also expressed her gratitude and admiration for the approximately 100,000 demonstrators who attended the “Hands Off” Boston rally April 5.
“That was f—ing awesome. That was hopeful. That inspired me,” she said.
Ultimately, the stresses of life as a 20-year-old are exactly what students like Dharma are excited about in the post-graduate world.
“I’m looking forward to all the fun things I’m going to keep doing here. I’m looking forward to having a job and starting my own life,” Dharma said. His worries and aspirations, he said, are “two sides of the same coin.”
“Nobody wants to pay bills, but just the idea of being able to be in a position to do that is kind of exciting,” Rateau said. “Your 20s are for figuring everything out … and forming new connections and having new adventures and new journeys.”
Amid broader political concerns and exigent pressures to succeed, Rateau said that 20-year-olds who try to make the most of young adulthood are promised independence and excitement.
“Have fun at 20,” Rateau said. “It’s a fun age. It’s a confusing age … but start up every decade with fun.”