Romanian role models for today’s young adults

Today’s generation faces major identity problems. The problem of identity is generated by the existence of dysfunctions in the socialization process of young adults, a process based on following role models. The essay addresses the problem by offering today’s young adults role models from the past (Mircea Eliade, Mircea Vulcănescu and St. Hesychius of Sinai) and present history of Romania and beyond (Academician Ioan Aurel Pop, President of the Romanian Academy). Mircea Eliade urges young people to be authentic at the price of being ridiculous, Mircea Vulcănescu encourages them to pursue a common social goal (the unification of the soul of the nation), while the president of the Romanian Academy is a model of an intellectual whose cognitive abilities are harmoniously intertwined with moral ones.