A letter to my fellow millennials,

Sup dude. Or as our parents would have said in a formal letter, “Hello.” Hi to all those millennials out there who feel put-down and under-appreciated. That are constantly told by our parents and grandparents that we did not turn out as well as we should have. I personally think that we are doing great. And if there was any problem with us, whose fault would that be??? That’s right, the finger is pointed at you “helicopter” parents. Society as a whole is skeptical that we have nothing to offer as a generation. Our generation is blamed by our parents for everything. We are blamed, and most of the time, we have nothing to do with it. We are used to it. We are blamed for a bratty kid having a tantrum in the grocery store, we are blamed for the political system going down the drain, and we are blamed for basically everything else. We are seen as overly sensitive and coddled, or under-emotional and harsh. There apparently is no in-between and you are either one or the other. If we are unemotional and show a sense of sadness, then we are automatically placed in the sensitive category. WE JUST CAN NOT WIN.

We are not as lazy and uneducated as everyone thinks. We are all not baristas with college degrees. We are not all wanderlust gypsies who want to escape adulthood. Although we have coined the term “adulting” with the words “I don’t want to,” attached to the front of it, we do have something to offer. We are creative, we are passionate, and we are driven. We are loving, too.

Whether we identify as a democrat or a republican in the political sphere, we love everyone. Of course we all have our opinions, but for the most part, we are people who care and don’t want to infringe on other people’s opinions or rights by voicing our own. I guess that leads back to us being sensitive, but I would rather be considered sensitive than ignorant. I would rather be tolerant and loving to everyone, than hateful and rude to various groups of individuals.

We are kind, happiness-seeking, skill building, self-proclaimed romantics. We want to have the classic things like our parents had, with our own twist. We might get crap for being glued to our phones and being obsessed with technology, but I am more than positive that if our parents had access to what we do, they would be obsessed with it, too. You would be amazed the things you can do with a cell phone and a laptop. Despite growing up in a “more, more, more" culture, we do not seek money and power. Instead, our biggest objective is happiness, which, through experience, we've found stems from love and friendship. So, to our fellow generations, please take us seriously. We may be obsessed with social media, and we may be more tech-savvy than you'd like, but we do have something to offer this world.

Finally, although we are told we are lazy and ungrateful children, we are all thankful. Thankful for the opportunities, the sports you forced us to play, clubs you made us join, AP classes you made us take. Thanks for giving us all the opportunities that you wish you had but instead let us have. So we are a grateful generation, but we just don’t want to get crap for being too sensitive.