Quarter-Life crisis is a term that describes anxiety over one’s direction and quality of life for young adults (18-35). In Indonesia the quarter-life crisis has become a critical mental health issue. Ellin Kustianasari sought to address growing cases of quarter-life crisis in Indonesia through a creative online workshop funded in part by the Global Women Dream Grant, a collaborative effort of Global Peace Women and Service for Peace Korea.
Through 2021 and early 2022, Ellin and her team created an innovative curriculum to help participants better understand their personalities, their strengths, and chart out a well-rounded vision for their future that included goals for their family life, academic and career paths as well as personal development. Through speakers, activities and presentations, the webinar provided opportunities for participants to understand the importance of volunteering, identifying and affirming personal values, and goal setting.
The team confronted challenges unique to online learning, including recruitment, retention and final outcomes for participants. However, they did succeed in engaging 35 participants through the two month program. Exit surveys showed that participants gained a 40% increase in understanding of their MBTI type, and increased their confidence to handle a quarter-life crisis. Puti Rahmadayani, a program participant said of the workshop, “Very useful and builds my awareness of the strengths and weaknesses that exist in myself, and helps me to be able to make me aware of what I should do in the future”
On completing the project Ellin reflected upon her experience and her team. ““We have values that we always raise in this event: Continuous improvement, teamwork and service minded. All those values had successfully applied and shaped me.”
Ellin looks forward to the next steps of making an impact on the youth of Indonesia, and GPW looks forward to supporting her service-minded efforts.