The 8 Types of People You’ll Meet in Your 20s

Our twenties is a decade filled with adventure, fun, chaos, and discovery. Throughout this time period, we explore new places, try new hobbies, experiment with new outfits, and switch our jobs or programs.

Every year in our twenties is different with new places to be and new activities to try. But best of all, we may find ourselves socializing way more than our teenage years because we now have more freedom and time to make our own decisions. 

But whenever we socialize, whether it would be at school, at work, or even at the park, there are eight different types of people who you’ll constantly meet in your twenties. “Who are they?” You may ask. 

The 8 Types of People You’ll Meet in Your 20s

1. The “I miss High School” Person

We all know the prom queen or king who peaked in high school. But we perhaps never would have expected to bump into them in our twenties.

Surprise, surprise – they’re pretty much at every event, class, or job. And sadly, there’s no way to run away from these people. 

But who are they? You may ask. Well, this is the acquaintance that knows pretty much every person who graduated from their high school in their living area.

When you first meet them, they’ll ask you which high school you attended. And if it happens to be a high school within their area, they’ll answer with the question: “Do you know….?” and ask you about some random person you may have perhaps never interacted with. 

It’s definitely tough to relive high school trauma in your twenties, but for some people, it may have been the highlight of their lives which happened just a few years back. 

2) The Social Butterfly 

You may perhaps be this person, as many people in their early to mid 20s usually act this way.

This is the individual who attends every event or party that their acquaintance or friend hosts.

Even if it’s a boring party, the social butterfly is the first person to be there with flowers and gifts. 

After work hours, the social butterfly may ask if you want to hang out with them for a few hours and go to the restaurant together.

And perhaps after class, the social butterfly may send you a text and ask if you can meet for coffee while reviewing lecture notes.

They’re the person who talks to everyone at work and in class, as they want to get to know everybody.

3) The Career-Focused Individual 

There’s always that one classmate you have met, who seems to always be applying for internships, jobs, or co-op opportunities way ahead of the deadline.

This individual is always the first person you’ll see at the job fair, the information session, or the resume or cover letter workshops.

Usually by the third or fourth year of their undergrad, they are working a full-time or part-time job in their field while attending school. 

And once they graduate college, they may be working a job at a very large corporation or non-profit organization.

They may be grinding from dawn to dusk, at their desk, and attending business conferences back-to-back.

Or somehow, they may move across the country and land a gig in a new state. 

4) The Office Person 

Similar to the career-focused individual, this person is the formal or business-casual person whom you’ll meet in your 20s.

They’ll basically treat every interaction with any type of person similar to a business interaction.

Even when going to a friend’s night out, they will open up their wardrobe and wear the most business casual clothes. 

In the workplace, they’re perhaps known as the individual who talks very formally and keeps to themselves most of the time.

They would not want to open up about their own personal life outside of work, and they focus on work matters whenever they’re on shift. 

5) The Smarty Pants 

There’s always that person in class who aces every quiz and assignment. And there’s that person who you’ll know in your 20s who is just like that as well.

This person spends most of their 20s in academia, whether that would be completing their masters’ or PhD degrees, or taking new courses to better refine their knowledge in different fields. 

They also perhaps have obtained a lot of gigs as a teaching assistant, tutor, or research assistant within their college.

And perhaps, you know that most of their time is spent on preparing research papers and submitting articles to periodicals. Basically, they’re very intelligent and you would love to pick their brains. 

6) The Adventurous person 

Everyone says that travelling is very important, especially when you’re young and in your 20s as you have so much to explore.

The adventurous person takes it to the next level – they travel almost every two months to a new city, state, or country.

Every time when you check your social media, you find them taking tons of selfies at a new destination. 

The adventurous person may also love to try different activities when traveling, whether that would be sky-diving, bungee jumping, scuba diving, or swimming in the ocean.

After all, whenever they come back from their trips, they have loads of souvenirs and photos to show their friends.

7) The Creative 

As children, many of us would love to construct new crafts, color, and draw different animals. This passion, unfortunately, eventually dies down.

But in our 20s, we may meet others who have continued with this passion throughout adulthood.

For example, you may meet a friend who loves to do street photography in their spare time, or you may bump into a person who loves to paint various landscapes. 

However, being creative is not just about being artistic. Some of the people you’ll meet in your 20s may enjoy telling you stories about their lives, while others may enjoy sharing their ideas with you.

After all, it’s great to hear different perspectives especially from peers within the same age group. 

8) The Entrepreneur 

While some of us may be grinding daily in our 9-to-5 jobs and others may be in school attending various classes, there may be someone out there who is looking to create their own business.

And you’ll definitely meet those go-getters throughout your 20s. 

These people are always looking to develop their skills to either create their own empire or launch their own successful brand.

They enjoy networking with others, attending conferences, and finding ways to pitch their ideas to different companies.

Whenever you interact with the entrepreneur, they are glad to share their values and goals of what they want to achieve before their 40s. 

In Summary: People You’ll Meet In Your 20s

You’ll meet plenty of different people in your 20s, as many of them have various personalities, goals, and values.

That’s perhaps why our 20s can be an amazing time; we are not only trying to work towards self-development, but we can also support others on their own journeys as well. 

After all, we have a chance to befriend many interesting individuals in our 20s, and meet many others.

You could perhaps group some of the individuals you met within this list, but the main question is: Which number are you? Please let us know in the comments.

About the Author

Candice is currently attending school for social service work. One of her passions is helping others through my writing. In her downtime, you’ll find her listening to music, watching random YouTube videos, and writing about career goals and resumes. She hopes to start freelancing for writing and obtain a leadership position in a public services sector.