One of the scariest and most exciting things to be right now is a member of Generation Y.
First, let me tell you just a little bit of why it is scary, in case you are unaware.
Student Loans
Our generation was raised with the belief that you will not make it without a degree. Although education is extremely important, it comes at a high price. I gain an appreciation for what it felt like during The Great Depression every time I look at my loan amount steadily increasing each semester. Generation Y students on average are $37,172 in debt. Yes, you read that number correctly (read the data from the College Investor's Robert Farrington here).
In 2014, 56% of Millennials admit that they live paycheck to paycheck and 42% say that their debt is their primary financial stressor (Data 1).
So, bottom line... we owe a lot of money, and it is scary.
Social Media
We have been raised in a world where technology suddenly changed everything. In an instant, it changed the way we communicate, how we interact and complete assignments in school, how we look for jobs and the way we are hired. Technology has changed so fast and continues to change every time we turn our heads. At this point, most jobs depend on technology, so we are constantly playing a game of catch up to make sure we can compete with the newest version of whatever. Also, we have to be overly cautious about our electronic footprint in a way that no previous generation ever has. Employers or potential employers can Google search our names and find pictures, Facebook and Myspace profiles, Twitter and Instagram posts and God forbid they access our Snapchats. And I do not say this with intentions to make you think we are worried about our partying being exposed or racy pictures getting leaked, although I am sure that is a concern for some. This access employers have to all of our personal profiles means to us that even our voices are stifled. Opinions are a scary thing to share as it is, especially when you fear that a future employer may not hire you based on a political post you have the right to share or a religious belief you write about online. Beyond employers, cyber-bullying has become a huge factor in so many millennials feeling less confident and less likely to speak up for fear of what someone may say about them or to them on the Internet.
More than 75% of employers look to the Internet when choosing a new employee.
More than 70% of hiring managers have claimed to decline someone based on something disagreeable they found online.
and... studies are showing that employers do not just Google and quit. Employers tend to dig quite deep to find as much as they can.(Data 2)
YOLO
We are afraid of commitment. Why? Because most of us have been raised by parents who grew up in the 60s and 70s and we were trained to go find ourselves, chase our passions, get an education first, then more education, then a job or if you are lucky, a career and then maybe a romance if you have time, but make sure it is the person you can stand being with forever and do not be afraid of trying something new. Rarely were millennials enforced with the idea of commitment. On top of that, we follow our models.
The divorce rate in the 1960s was 2.2, in the 70s it was 3.5, and by 1980 it had jumped to a high of 5.2. It has been slowing declining since then but still rests at around 3.5 like it was in the 70s (Data 3). Of course we are scared to commit when we see such lack of commitment all around us. The majority of my friends come from a divorced home, commitment scares us because it does not look like it works. It is untrustworthy. It is unreliable. We live in a time when You Only Live Once and No Ragrets are phrases tossed around for laughter, but in the back of our minds serve as a reminder that we must live in the moment since nothing else is guaranteed.
So now that you too are scared for us, here is the good news about the exciting lives we live:
Student Loans
We are paying a high price for our education, but we are extremely educated and highly prepared for the fields we go into. Also, most college students will learn creative ways to get out of financial binds and how to survive on little. Lastly, we are earning higher starting salaries than the preceding students with this year's grads anticipating an average starting salary of $51,000 compared to 2003's grads starting at $41,000 on average (Data 4).
Social Media
Yes, technology has thrown all of us for a loop, but we have become extremely adaptable because of it. We are used to the newest edition coming out each year and iOS updates occurring every 3 months. We have gained many transferable skills because we are used to things consistently changing around us and we have become very good at managing that change. Also, being aware of your digital footprint is not all bad. Cyber bullying is an issue that keeps us from speaking out at times, but social media has helped so many millennials get involved in social activism and even fight against evils such as Cyber bullying (like this movement led by a motivated millennial).
YOLO
Afraid of commitment and hinging on a YOLO mindset, we are a strange dichotomy of cautious, yet uninhibited. How can this be? We typically do not hesitate to seize an opportunity when it arises, but we will be scared in doing so. We will need encouragement and a boost of self-confidence, but we recognize that if not now, we will probably never get the chance again and we are willing to take that risk no matter how scary it may seem. We do tend to be approval-driven, but we are ambitious.
So, do not be so hard on us Gen Y students and employees. We have a lot of things coming against us and a lot of things going for us.
