Navigating life can be difficult at the best of times. Even from an early age, the decisions you have to make about your education can have long-lasting implications for your future. There are some significant milestones that form the standard trajectory for an average person in the modern day – milestones which are frequently used to measure progress, to determine how ‘on track’ you are – but what are they, and can they be that important?
It is particularly important to stress that these milestones are often treated as the ‘correct path’, so to speak. However, while they represent significant events and accomplishments, they are little more than common signifiers of conventional success in an average modern life. This, of course, does not mean they suit the plans or needs of every individual – whether due to differing interests and ambitions, or unique needs due to neurodivergence. Further to this, the milestones themselves are in flux as society continues to shift to adopt new ideas, philosophies, and technologies. As such, milestones should not define your life’s trajectory – but they can still be a useful yardstick for many.
Finishing Education
The end of education for a young person is often considered to be their entry into the adult world. In completing their education, they have gained the skills and qualifications needed to take their life into their own hands. This is particularly true for the completion of A-Level study when children have reached the perceived ‘adult age’ of 18, but there are many who choose to further their study at a university – itself a unique experience that differs from the rigours of adulthood unmoored to an educational institution.
Leaving education, of course, begets another milestone entirely: your first job. When you entire into full-time work, you are often choosing the career of a lifetime, setting yourself on a professional path that will determine future comfort and prosperity.
Buying Your First Home
Getting on the property ladder is a milestone that signifies security and prosperity – especially so in today’s housing market. Navigating the purchase of a home also requires a lot of research, knowledge, and common sense – all of which contribute to successful navigation of adult life and are signifiers of emotional maturity.
Big decisions include whether you are interested in new builds or would prefer a more characterful house in a pre-existing neighbourhood, as well as important questions about overall location and future ambitions. Buying a house is settling down and starting to make roots – the foundations of a new family.
Starting a Family
Starting a family is another significant milestone, but one which perhaps lays bare the difficulty inherent to following ‘the track’ of expected norms. Statistics will tell you that people on average get married at the age of 26, without engaging with the wide spread of results that garner that statistic – and the individual needs of each and every couple. Starting a family is often an expectation, and one borne from genetics as much as societal norms – but it is certainly not one to rush!