For emerging adults, pandemic serves up unique challenges

For emerging adults, pandemic serves up unique challenges

In Redlands, California, 19-year-old Hans Westenburg is also hopeful he can stay on track with his plans to become a physician. He’s a sophomore at the University of California, Irvine but is living at home with his mom and sister and attending classes remotely. He worries that the quality of his education has deteriorated, but he expects medical schools will take the temporary disruption into account. “It’s not awful, but I do feel sort of grounded, like I can’t really explore my ambitions,” he says. “If this continues for a year or two, there would be more of that feeling, like, what could I have done with that time?”