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Expectation Hangover Cures: Author Christine Hassler Speaks At UGA

by Gabriella Klaes, Kelsey Blair
10/15/2007

University of Georgia students seeking a break from the stress of midterms found solace Monday evening in author Christine Hassler. Hassler, author of the well-known book 20 Something, 20 Everything: A Quarter Life Woman's Guide to Balance and Direction arrived at the Student Learning Center with a smile as she greeted a sea of over a hundred women, each seeking relief from the stress that arrives with the early twenties.

Hassler’s speech opened up with the humorous title “Expectation Hangovers,” which she said referred to the side affects of insecurities in the lives of women in their twenties. “These expectation hangovers come from feelings that arise from a desired result not being met,” Hassler said. “Twenty-somethings experience headaches and disorientation all the time, just like after a night out.”

“After being inspired by my own post-college unexpected challenges and experiences, I wrote the first guide book written exclusively for young women,” Hassler said on her website.

At the beginning of her talk, Hassler posed three questions to the audience: Who am I? What do I want? How do I get it? As the evening progressed, she provided tools and exercises from her book to help the audience answer the questions. She encouraged the audience to “explore, don’t assume” when it came to setting goals.

“Make sure you visualize what you want, not what someone else wants for you,” Hassler said.

“The most important thing I gained from Christine was how important it is to make your own decisions without always consulting others,” Shea Ross a junior from Watkinsville, said. “You learn to trust yourself more and become more comfortable in your own skin.”

Hassler encouraged the audience to set goals instead of trying to live up to lofty expectations. “Let what you love evolve. You don’t have to know what you want to do by the time you graduate,” Hassler said.

She said that many people in their twenties experience "Cheesecake Factory Paralysis" as she held up a large, spiraled menu from the restaurant which possesses over 171 dish choices. She attributes this phenomenon to the anxiety that young adults face when having to make a decision with so many options.

“Look beyond your roles – student, daughter and girlfriend – and look at your qualities – kindness and generosity,” she said. “That is what really is important.” Hassler challenged the audience to make decisions on their own for a week without consulting anyone else.

As the presentation came to a close, Hassler left the audience with a final piece of advice: “Sometimes you just have to say, ‘Who cares? I’m doing the best I can,'” Hassler said.