My generation will be remembered.
Older generations may believe we’ll be remembered for always being on our phones, for always playing our video games. I disagree. We're a generation that's trying to change the world.
Sure, we may prefer to send a text instead of making a phone call, but that doesn’t make us lazy. As I’m sure a great scholar (or a drunken sailor) said at one time or another: change is the only thing in this world that’s constant.
For example: Our generation's pride parades are being attended by straight allies, and it's no longer a big deal (as we are all just people supporting each other). Hundreds of thousands of people attend LGBT Pride events all over the world just to have the chance to be surrounded by people who understand them, who don’t question who they are. However, because this is the world we live in, not every Pride celebration around the world is held in the same candor as New York City, or Los Angeles or San Francisco. My generation is changing that. We are trying to make mere intolerance unacceptable. I live in New York City, I can hold my girlfriend’s hand during a walk in Central Park or kiss her while we’re waiting for the light to change, and not feel like all eyes are on us. Equality and tolerance are not the same thing. The fight for acceptance is not over, but we're hoping the acceptance of plain tolerance is.
My generation knows that the shit is hitting the fan in regard to the environment – and we’re trying to do something about it. A 22-year-old from the Netherlands came up with a way to start to rid the ocean of its 8 million-pound-per-year plastic pollution. If someone reading this doesn’t believe me – Google it. One can find many an idea that brilliant minds have come up with to help save what makes up 97% of our planet. I’ve been told numerous times in numerous classes that one person’s actions do not have an effect, that one person cannot make a change. I call BS. One person is never just one person. The decisions I make effect the people around me. If I decide to toss my empty soda bottle into the recycling bin, maybe someone who saw me do it will do it too. Something as simple as recycling one bottle has the possibility to become cyclical, we just have to give it that chance.
Pioneering LGBTQ equality and looking after our environment are just two of many ways that this generation is standing up, taking notice and making progressive strides towards a brighter future for everyone.
We, the techies, the dreamers, the ones who stay out too late and rarely get the recommended hours of sleep, the ones who wear baseball hats backwards and listen to music too loud; we’re the generation that’s going to change the world. You can laugh, you can shake your head and tell us we’re too young, that we haven’t lived enough years to know what you know. We’ll just look at you and smile because we don’t have the time to argue, we’re too busy fixing what you’ve damaged.
