Education
Our generation has much more of an emphasis on education than our parents' did. Practically everyone you know is attending or applying to an institution of higher education after graduating from high school because, in today’s world, it’s the social norm. Not everyone is meant to pursue a college education, but if you choose not to, you are almost looked down upon by certain people in society. Because we are a culture that requires a certain level of education, we are much more of a competitive culture than our parents once experienced when they graduated high school or college. Some people in our generation also might be the first of their family to attend college. Their mothers and fathers may have not attended and provided well for their families, but in most cases today, a college education is required to succeed.
Balanced Life
The work ethic that my father’s generation has is one to be admired. I’ve seen my dad work long hours, travel frequently and have a type of focus and determination to provide for our family that I’m not sure I will ever possess. Most of the main breadwinner(s) in our family is focused on working all day and providing for our families without much focus on their own aspirations or dreams. The way that our generation differs from our parents is that we have grown up in this society that leads us to believe we should pursue happiness opposed to a hefty salary, even if that means leading a different lifestyle than the one our parents provided us with. Our generation is much more focused on enjoying ourselves and grasping experiences opposed to making the big bucks.
Socially Conscious
Because our generation has so much at our fingertips, we have a better understanding and awareness of the world around us. Technology provides us with the recognition of issues that occur in other parts of the world. We are also the most traveled generation to date. We’ve had more opportunities and time to travel and experience other places and cultures, and with that we have physically seen other parts of the world. Our generation also has the interest in seeing other parts of the world. There are many opportunities given to us to do so in high school as well as college that students frequently take advantage of.
Entitled
So far, we’ve only covered the advantages our generation has, but we also have some downfalls that set us apart from our parents. We own a strong sense of entitlement about nearly every aspect of our lives, while our parents were much more humble about receiving things. We expect to get the job we applied for the first time, we assume we’ll get into the school we applied to, and we are especially entitled about material items. We assume that we can plug away in life and be granted achievements without generally doing much work. Our parents' generation knew a much harder and stricter environment. Sure, we work hard to do well in school and have goals and dreams, but when it comes to achieving those things, we don’t have much respect for them. Instant gratification is a disease that has plagued our generation; but fortunately, it isn’t completely our fault. Once again, our society has told us that we can be gifted these things without hard work; they tell us that it’s acceptable to expect things right away, which even in 2015 is not realistic.
