The public eye sees college students as just that, students, which to them means naïve. They think that our days consist of Netflix binging, safe-spaces and Frat parties. Some think that because we are full-time students, we are out of tune with the "real world." That's so far from the truth. We are much more than that.

You remember how it was when you were in school? I'll tell you a little secret; things are a lot different now, but some of it's the same; you may have just forgotten.

Back in your day, you could work your part time job at the grocery store, pay for school, be involved in clubs and sports and fully support yourself. Today, students need to work full-time jobs, go into obscene amounts of debt, and somehow find time left in the day to be involved or sleep. That's right; I said "or." There's only 24 hours in the day that we can't waste.

We're intelligent. No, we don't know everything, but we also have access to so much information. Technology today let's us have access to anything we need to know at the touch of a finger or simply speaking the question. You think we don't know what's happening in the real world? We're living in it all just like you, and we can also easily research information that we don't yet know or understand. We will learn from our personal mistakes just like you did. We will learn from our professors just like you did. We will learn new things on the job just like you did.

I'm not just talking to the working generation that came before us. A lot of times our peers who chose not to go to college are also making condescending remarks about us choosing to be just a student. Now, I'll hand it to them. I know they are also hard working individuals who earned whatever position that they proudly hold without a degree, but I'm tired of hearing, "I'm not a student because I work for a living." I do too! Students do both and then some. We could all survive and thrive without your snide remarks.

Some people just need to open their eyes a little wider to see the many roles that students play outside of the classroom. Students today are mothers or fathers, full-time employees who sometimes even hold high positions, and philanthropists through their sorority or fraternity.

This isn't a boo-hoo, poor me, millennial complaint post. I think that going through this struggle is precisely what we need to become well-rounded individuals. It would just be so much better if people could be positive and supportive about our decision to be "just a student."