Welcome home, boomerang generation

I have a college degree. I graduated college in four years -- four and a half if you count taking summer courses -- from the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. I was one of those students who had 14-hour days and had more coffee in my veins than blood. I worked every day to earn the recognition of my peers and colleagues that would help further my career once I graduated.

Fast forward to August 2012, a few months after graduation, when my apartment lease ended and I was still a part-time intern at a digital public relations firm in Madison. There was an opportunity to be full-time in a month or two, and I wanted it more than anything. However, I had no choice but to move back home.

I felt like a complete and utter failure. I was lucky enough to live just under an hour away from Madison where I was determined to work, so I commuted three to four times a week to work my part-time agency job. I knew others who weren’t as lucky and left to move states away from where they rooted their networking opportunities and connections. However, my experience is reflective of a lot of post-grads’ lives. It’s becoming fairly normal for eager-eyed college graduates to move back home to their old bedroom covered in boy-band posters and dusty high school yearbooks.

The author, second from left, and her family.

A recent article published here on Paste BN College discussed this topic and whether or not it is OK to move back in with your parents. Both sides bring up valid points and I have experienced feelings and situations from both angles. Susan Davis-Ali is right when she said the longer you’re at your parent’s house, the longer you feel trapped and secure and unable to explore responsibilities (do I need to spell out free laundry and groceries to you?). Patrick O’Brien was correct, too, when he argued that you’ll be so committed to your career you will rarely be home anyway. The bottom line is, there will never be a correct answer and resolution to this great debate and it differs from person to person. There is one thing we know, though -- situations like these are becoming more common.

A recent survey conducted by Pew Research Center found that more adult children are returning home to live with their parents. This pattern has emerged in the past (almost always associated with economic downturns), and this time is no different. As the economy struggles, it becomes more difficult for young people to gain their independence, especially when student loans kick in and the cushion of having a “student” stature wears off.

In fact, this generation -- the generation that has 13% of their parents saying one of their adult, college-educated children has moved back in with them over the past year -- is now being called “boomerangers” by researchers. We are essentially a portion of society just waiting to see what comes next, and succeeding because we have our Baby Boomer parents guiding us. And it’s normal.

However, college enrollment has soared to an all-time high. About 21.6 million students attended college or university programs last year, an increase of more than 6 million students since fall 2000, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. This is all happening while the annual cost of college -- meaning an average tuition, room and board -- as of the 2010-2011 academic year stood at $13,600 at public institutions, $36,300 at private not-for-profit institutions and $23,500 at private for-profit institutions.

The problem is not the lack of determination or thirst from college students. In fact, that’s why more and more fresh grads are moving home -- they are too thirsty to give up. Know what you want, continue on and know you are not a failure. That is where I went wrong right away; half the battle after you graduate, whether or not you move home, is your attitude.

Go get ‘em, boomerangers.

Caroline Radaj no longer lives with her parents and has her own apartment in Madison, Wisc., where she works as a digital production coordinator at the Wisconsin Alumni Association. Feel free to tweet at her and talk about all things post-grad.

This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.