Lately I've been hearing a lot of hate towards the millennial generation. Although there is no exact age range, if you were born somewhere between 1980 and 2000, chances are you'd be classified as a millennial.

Now, a lot of older people criticize the millennial generation for being whiny, entitled, privileged brats who get offended by everything, are too obsessed with our technology, and don't know anything about hard work. Yeesh. Harsh much? I hope to de-stigmatize some of these assumptions, as I am very proud to be born into this generation.

Let's start with the big three: whiny, entitled, and privileged. I feel that this criticism comes from the expectation that we're supposed to always respect our elders. I am a firm believer that respect is supposed to be two-sided. It should be "If you respect me, I will respect you in return", not "If you respect me, I might not treat you terribly." This does not make me whiny or entitled; it makes me a person who believes everyone should be treated with fairness. It just so happens that most of my elders are kind and wonderful people with whom I've established mutual respect. But let me clear: I do not owe you anything just because you happened to be born in an earlier time period than me.

As far as privileges go, we millennials are not only aware of our privileges, we are actively working to bring attention to those who are less privileged. In fact, we are far more tolerant of other races and groups than any other generation in the past. Being privileged is not a crime as long as we support and strive for equality for all people. And I'm sure most of the people calling us privileged paid very little money to go to college and grew up in a stable economy before leaving it in shambles for the millennials to deal with.

More recently I've been hearing that the younger generation is "offended by everything." In reality, we just think it's cool not to be sexist, racist, or homophobic. Refusing to participate in perpetuating negative and hurtful stereotypes does not make us sensitive and whiny — it makes us decent human beings. Just because something is not personally offensive to you, does not mean it isn't hurtful to someone else. A little decency and compassion goes a long way.

Perhaps the most untrue stereotype about millennials is that we are lazy and do not know anything about hard work. College acceptance rates are lower than ever in this day and age, as it is expected of us to attend college in order to be successful. Because of this rise in competitiveness, most of us college students juggle a ridiculous amount of schoolwork with part-time jobs to help pay off a ridiculous amount of debt from our student loans. We sacrifice our social lives, our sleep, and even our physical and mental health because we are told that this is what it takes to be successful. And even then, our hard work doesn't always pay off. There are college graduates with masters degrees who are working as waiters, unable to find a job, but still need to make a living and pay off their debt. We not only face the highest tuition, we also face the stiffest competition in the work field.

Last but not least, we are constantly being told that we're always on our phones. I do think face-to-face interaction is extremely important and sometimes it is necessary to unplug from all the technology. However, we live in a time where it is possible for me to know about things going on in the world just seconds after they happen. I have access to any news article with a quick Google search, I can FaceTime my best friend who lives in 1,000 miles away in New York City, and I can alert someone if I'm in a dangerous situation with the help of an app. Technology is amazing and constantly evolving--get with the 21st century! But you're right, maybe we do text too much and take too many selfies. Sue us.

I recognize that this may not apply to all millennials. There are bad apples in every generation, but please do some research before making rude and generalized statements. From what I've gathered after nineteen years on this planet, millennials are, for the most part, compassionate, hard-working people who look out for more than just themselves. I believe we can change the world.