Twixters:
College grads leeching off of Mom and Dad

By Amanda Junker

Good news for all directionless slackers—who, according to a certain New York Times magazine article, can all be found in the Greek System—your peter-pan syndrome is now deemed legitimate.  Laziness and lack of direction are no longer symptomatic problems, but are a rite of passage, and part of a distinct sociological phase.  

I saw the Time magazine cover story last month, and was intrigued.  The Twixters: twentysomething kids reveling in indecision about their careers and ideals, still living off their parents’ money, and just simply refusing to grow up.  Sounds like a great plan, sounds like a plan a few jobless Northwestern seniors are flirting with right now, but the Time twixters seemed a little off. 

In addition to the Ah ha! discovery of this generational trend, the story focused on proving that these people aren’t just lazy that they are in fact going somewhere in life.  The reporter’s case studies involved people who had taken between six and seven years to graduate from college (one received a degree for an “undeclared” major), and were spending their time waiting tables, working as a florist and as a photo lab assistant. Real go-getters. 

According to the article they are “smart” but they say college hadn’t prepared them to hold their own in the workforce.  They also cite financial reasons, as they are still dependent on their parents as they take the time to pay off college loans—apparently with one five dollar tip at a time. 

I was overwhelmingly cynical as I read the story because I am admittedly on the more straight-arrow track to a job.  But even among my less job-enthused peers, I know that this is not the twixterdom they will know.  I’d venture to say there is a separate cohort of twixters who actually are going somewhere.  It’s common to dabble in different jobs and rely on Mom and Dad in the meantime, but the Time kids didn’t seem to have much real potential for when they finally move out of the room they grew up in.  

This past quarter I have had the chance to take a voyeuristic look at the working world, holding down a job on my TM, all the while knowing its just a few months until I return to college life.  At work, I have encountered plenty of well-adjusted twentysomethings making it fine on their own.  I also know a woman approaching thirty who is just now moving out of her parents’ house.  I’m sorry, but that’s just sad. 

Admittedly, situations like this do put things into perspective after living in the NU bubble.  According to the article, the average student takes five years to graduate from college.  We go to a school where it is basically unheard of not to know your major by sophomore year.  By the time you do graduate, you should have a fully padded resume and enough connections to get you to where you need to be. 

But no matter what your background, no matter to what generation you belong, it’s not a new phenomenon to be lost after graduation.  Look at the pop culture representations—The Graduate and Reality Bites articulate the same coming of age sentiments as today’s twixter picture: Garden State.  Notably the accomplished writer, director, producer and star of Garden State, Zach Braff, graduated from Northwestern, and was once a twixter himself.

Perhaps this goes against my original inability to take seriously this new breed of twenty-somethings defining my generation.  A pre-professional school does not guarantee any feeling of control or direction once you leave, and there is nothing wrong with taking some down time to figure things out.  But if, ten years from now, you are still wallowing in indecision and sleeping on the bottom bunk, I hope you have a damn good screenplay to back it up.