Life In My Twenties: The First Year of my ’20s

Our guest today is in the ‘first year’ of her twenties and she explains what that looks like.

My takeaway is – we are all figuring it out, but we have to answer our own questions & decide what we want our lives to look like, no one has the answers!

Leave a comment and let me know how you felt at 20! Share this if you enjoyed it.

Happy Reading!

My 20s started off the most chaotic way possible – I had an exam, it rained excessively, I was late for my birthday dinner, my makeup didn’t bang and I had a fight with my friendship group.

Despite the start whenever I was asked, how does it feel to be in your 20s, my reply was always “it’s brought me so much clarity” (LOL). The thing is I was an overly anxious teenager and by the time I reached 20, it was a lot clearer what I liked, what I didn’t like and what I wanted my future to look like. 

My plan was simple: graduate with a masters, work towards becoming a chartered engineer while pursuing my dreams of becoming a freelance fashion journalist on the side and eventually start working on moving out of the UK. In some ways, my 20th year was a demo for what I had planned for the rest of my 20s. 

You see, I had planned on going into my 3rd year but somehow, when I least expected it, I got an offer for a year in industry(lesson no 1 in my 20s, plans can change anytime!!). Truth is, I really was not in the frame of mind to do 3rd  year, as at this point I had started to resent my course, so, I saw this as a way out and as a divine opportunity to clear my head. 

So I moved down south, to my own apartment, to start the infamous 9-5. I was doing everything an “adult” should be doing – living on my own, paying bills, going to work, having drinks on Friday night, and I was even writing for my fashion blog and another publication on the side. Perfect right? 

The thing no one tells you about your 20s is that even when you seem to have your shit together, you don’t. This was the first time I was truly on my own and there’s no clear blueprint really on what life in your 20s is like. 

Should I still be going out clubbing or am I too old? 

Should I be getting into a serious relationship?

 Should I be “grinding” and saving for a house like Twitter says I should do? 

Should I be finding myself? Should I be feeling this old?

 Should I be feeling this lost? 

What I’ve learnt from my first year in my 20s is you have to answer these questions for yourself.

Your 20s are when everyone’s path seems to diverge (some people are graduating and starting work, some doing masters, some moving back home) and you can no longer look around you for guidance. 

To make things worse there seems to be a huge pop culture emphasis on teens and high school then boom unmarried in your 30s – with a huge gap in the decade that defines your 20s. All this has led me to believe that my 20s is a time for me to look inwards, to define the life I want, the values I want to live by and stay true to myself. It’s also led me to believe that if I have to rely on myself more than ever now I have to start working and investing in myself unlike ever before.

 I can only hope for the best while I do this. 

Ose.