"The 'Quarterlife Crisis' can be generally defined as that unique crisis of modern twenty- and thirty-somethings who are faced with an overwhelming number of choices and expectations regarding their futures. It typically strikes when Quarterlifers are making their transition from college or university to the big wide world of true adults. It can take a while to play itself out, particularly since modern Quarterlifers have numerous options during this transition phase: you can start building a single career, or try different jobs; you can travel, or study further, or start a family. Talking to others, I've found that the crisis sometimes becomes apparent (again or for the first time) at other key transitional phases in the twenties and thirties, such as moving on from your first job, or returning from a year's travel, or getting married. Whatever the circumstances, the Quarterlife Crisis is marked by a period of intense change which often causes anxiety about your current and future states. One thing that makes the Quarterlife Crisis so difficult is the feeling of losing control: you emerge from an existence where life was largely predictable to a situation of instability and changeability. For instance, in the academic environment, you always knew what you had to do to progress or achieve; courses were structured, feedback was organised around tests or exams, and advancement was a simple matter of pass or fail. If you were good at sports, you went to practice and tried out for the team. If you liked to sing, you joined the choir. But when you enter the world at large, you find that the choices are numerous, and the consequences of those choices are a lot more serious. You start having to rely on yourself a great deal more than ever before, and it's difficult to know when you are on the right track. No-one hands out grades or gold stars anymore and paying the bills isn't half as much fun as you thought it would be. Topping it all, you expect certain things of yourself based on your previous life and you sense that society has expectations, too. But you're not sure what you have to do to meet them..." (From 'Managing the Quarterlife Crisis', pp.34-35)