Every couple of decades, a new generation is born, and with that new generation, there’s new trends, new technology, and new goals that are different than the generations before them. Yes, if you haven’t noticed in my previous sentence, there’s A LOT of “newness” going on and sometimes that doesn’t transition well with previous generations.

Many families have at least a mixture of two generations; however, my family has a mixture of four…so you can imagine the differences in my parents’ house. My mom is from the baby boomer generation; my dad was born into generation x; my brother, one of my sisters, and myself were born into the millennial generation; and my youngest sister was born into generation z.

That’s a very big variety, and we all have very different ideas of what we think is best. Now, don’t get me wrong, we do agree on things, but our ideals and expectations are seemingly different.

As a millennial, I and many people that I know believe in getting their education before getting married and having children. Now, there are plenty of millennials who do, and that’s wonderful, but there are still many who want to have their lives together before adding the responsibility of a marriage and children.

I’ve been told that there’s no perfect time to bring a child into this world, but I think there is. I wouldn’t want my mom to have to raise my child because I’m in college still (no offense mom). I would like to have my degrees, be somewhat financially stable (whatever that means in our economy) and you know…be married. Maybe even try and figure out who I am and what I want in life.

My millennial way of thinking could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who thinks this way.

I’ve also heard that my generation is entitled. Yes, some millennials take things too far; however, it’s also our right to fight for what we believe in even if other people don’t share that same view or belief. Some say entitled, I say determined. Determined to get what they want and to work hard for it. Millennials don’t have silver spoons in their mouths, they see what they want and they go after it, so to me, that’s not entitlement; that’s work ethic…not that older generations see it that way.

We have to realize that things change. If things didn’t change, we wouldn’t be growing as a species. Change is important, it keeps new ideas flowing and because of that some really amazing things are introduced into the world. We need to keep pushing forward together, staying caught up in the past isn’t going to do anyone any good. Don’t be so quick to shut down new ideas or new technology. Try to be open minded and attempt to understand the newer generations, you might be surprised as to why they do the things they do and why they believe what they believe.

Like I said earlier, maybe I’m wrong…I am a millennial.