Why is there such a disdain for the millennial generation? It is subject to call millennials lazy, entitled, and narcissistic. This negative view needs to change. Allow me to put it all into perspective:
To start, this generation has seen it all: a new millennium, a war, terrorist attacks, and a great recession. We’ve seen economic change, cultural shifts, and technological advances. We’ve seen struggle with social issues and how the issues are dealt with. To say we are uncultured or sheltered from the world would be false as we grew up in a progressive time.
Seeing as though we’ve witnessed these changes and grown with them, we have the opportunity to take them and move towards a brighter future. I say this with conviction, as we are the smartest and most educated generation to date, we are the most diverse, we’re the most exposed the world and its different cultures, and we are environmentally and socially conscious. We are fully aware of the problems in society and are active in trying to fix them. We recognize the wage gap, we recognize police brutality and blatant racism, and we recognize how unreasonable our college debt is. We strive to change these issues and constantly speak out on them in hopes to resolve them.
We have a healthy skepticism for conventional ideas: questioning orthodox wisdom and looking for facts and evidence is part of our dynamic as a generation. We look for a basis of concrete reasoning when we engage in conversation and debates, as we appreciate that it is important to know what we talk about.
We have the tools to lead us to success. The technology we have today is incredible: at the touch of my fingertips, I can talk to my friend across the country, share my thoughts and memories on social media, find directions to the place of my desire, read the latest news, etc. We can get information about stars that are light years away and we have the ability to 3D-print prosthetics all thanks to our technological enhancements. The possibilities are endless, and I expect them to continue to flourish.
My parents always told me to never allow my past to hinder me, but instead to focus on what’s to come. This is a piece of common advice, however, there are people that perseverate on the ‘good ol' days.’ These days may have been good, with sporadic harmony in the government or in the economy. But even with this, there are pieces of these ‘good ole days’ that systematically oppressed people of color and women. Though there are still cracks in the structure, the millennial generation has addressed these issues and has, if nothing else, disseminated the information to the world. What the world does with that information is subjective.
Where there are many great millennials, it is only natural that there are a few bad apples in every bushel. So when you baby boomers read this and roll your eyes, know that I speak on behalf of the good apples — the ones that don’t exploit social media and forms of technology, and the ones who aspire to make this world a better place. I have faith in my generation to feed off the progress that’s already been made and further it into something revolutionary. This generation has potential, and I know in my heart that we will make a difference.
