Be Responsible, Move Out

 By Tiger Shi
Web Content Contributor

I had a fear for a quarter of my childhood. The fear was that I would have to move out of my parents’ house once I turned 18. Fast forward to the year 2016 when I turned 18 in September. Nothing changed– I still lived with my parents, which made sense because I was still in high school, finishing the last year of “parental supervision.”

Once I started college at Texas State, my life changed. From all nighters of fun with fellow freshmen to hanging out all over San Marcos, my view of adulthood has officially begun. However, I technically still “live” with my parents (just for the spring breaks and summer vacations) since; after all, they support me financially in college.

This will change as I start to receive income on my own from part-time work and internships. My parents did talk to me about post-college life. The topic covered graduate school to full-time job options. They offered to let me stay at their house, only if I pay rent like I do at my apartment.

I decided not to and chose the full-time job path. It is an ongoing project with experience building and employer connections to be made. I wish to move out as soon as possible after graduation. This was because I do not want to become like the 30-year-old man in New York whose parents had to file a lawsuit to evict him from their home. I am persistent in starting my own life for once instead of being dependent forever.

Moving out is a method of achievement. By doing so, you proved yourself to be financially independent and able to prosper in the real world. One will have to navigate through life in order to pay the bills, put food on the table, have medical or car insurance and pay off debt.

I took a class called financial math in high school and they taught plenty of useful information to survive. No one has the ability or willingness to baby their child forever. It would be considered an embarrassment for someone to be still “clinging” to mom and dad at a certain age.

The way I see this phenomenon of people living with their parents in recent times because of two reasons: the state of the economy or the lazy willpower to move out. First of all, not everyone was necessarily guaranteed a job after graduation. STEM or non-STEM, the job markets depends on the economy which ties into the amount of experience and knowledge in the field a college graduate has.

People may need to gather experience first or they are searching persistently, which is good for them. Some people, unfortunately, happen to be lazy moochers who lack the confidence in their own abilities. By moochers, I mean those who struggle to figure out what their expertise is or intentionally refuse to try to succeed on their own without dependency.

I think moving out is a responsible thing to do. I have plans to prove to everyone, including myself, that I can function without needing my parents too much. The only thing I need from them would be advice. Otherwise, I will be grateful for all they have done for me for over 20 years of my life.

Most importantly, being independent in life will be evidence to your potential soul-mate to prove your confidence. It will make a great impression on them, benefit your reputation in society and improve your own skill sets. We all have a desire to confront fear, and this fear can be defeated. As actor Shia Labeouf once said, “Just do it, make your dreams come true!”

Feature image by Tiger Shi.