Charger Blogger: Quarter-Life Crises and Figuring It Out as We Go
Beatrice Glaviano â26 shares her take on getting older, the grind of college, and remembering to have a life outside of it all.
April 3, 2025
By Beatrice Glaviano â26
If I stare at the sun long enough, will it give me wisdom?
I think the older I get, the more confused I am about life. I also think thatâs a shared thought among people. There are taxes and chores, and I keep asking myself increasingly ridiculous questions, such as: how is there still homework in Canvas? Is there a legal limit to how much one can shower in a day? Is my calculator just a safety mechanism? Where are my car keys? And:
What am I doing with my life?
There is so much pressure on young people to do âbig people thingsâ nowadays. Weâve all (most likely) been told to become something expensive: a doctor, a lawyer, etc. Unfortunately, you cannot go out onto the street and get paid for telling the world that chickens are men (featherless bipeds), for example. Okay, maybe you could do this, but Iâm not sure how successful youâll be at it, per se. You can, however, go to school, get a degree, and uh, figure it out from there. Maybe youâll become successful and recognized, but most likely, weâre all going to end up working a routine 9-5 and pray that nothing exciting happens that day.
How horrible. Ugh.
I know that I want my life to not be only studying, even though four years of a bachelorâs, two years of a masterâs, and who knows how long Iâll be in medical school will most likely contain me within four walls most of the time. There must be a greater purpose than being the perfect A+ student. Yes, grades are important â and having a job â but so is being a human being. Isnât that important, too? You canât just throw your life into academics or work and forget about your humanity. â Iâve been a victim of that.
Therapist: âThese are all really cool hobbies, but...whereâs the self-love?â
Author, a full-time student with three jobs and progressively less sleep: âThatâs a great question.â
POV: You finally go outside and touch grass.
Iâve realized that outside of school and work, Iâm not entirely sure who Iâm becoming or who Iâve even been. Sometimes I wonder what happened to my hobbies, my loves of life, my curiosity and wonder, and all I can say is, well:
I happened.
Thereâs this great quote that says, âLife doesnât come at you, but from youâ and thatâs stuck with me ever since I saw it. Itâs rather true, isnât it? Every consequence has an action, and every action has a consequence. Weâre all responsible for the lives we live because weâve made the choices that lead us to where we are now. Yeah, we canât control everything, but we can at least control ourselves.
Being so honest with you all, when is the last time you did anything you actually enjoyed? No, TikTok scrolling doesnât count. That doesnât require effort, really. When was the last time that you put some effort into yourself and liked it? Was it at the gym? The park? In a coffee shop with your friends?
Heâs got no class, no job, no stress. Just vibes. I aspire to be him.
I really donât like it when I see stuff thatâs âThis is your signâ or âYour horoscope and your love life... blah blahâ â I donât need to see that when I already know what I need to do. We all know what we need to do, but itâs the comfort we find in the known that prevents us.
Go have some fun. Real fun â donât go partying, do something for the twelve-year-old or the five-year old that sits near to your heart. Let magic be real again, and maybe unicorns arenât so far-fetched.
Believe in yourself, because thatâs the best magic youâll ever have.
All my love,
Beatrice