"When I was your age, I had to walk ten miles, uphill, each way to school, every single day, for 12 years."

"Kids these days, they're so entitled. They'll never know the struggle of having to communicate through only letters."

"Back in the day, we didn't have television. I only had sticks and rocks to keep myself occupied."

Is it just me, or are these phrases more of empty sentence-fillers so that the older generations can shove entitlement down our throats?

Is it me, or is the idea that we have it better a fallacy?

Is it me, or is our perspective and our lifestyle just as significant and challenging as the lifestyle of our predecessors?

To my superiors, I am a 20-something-year-old college student who should be humbled by the technology that surrounds my life. I should know the dictionary definition of struggle but in no way should I face any struggles myself. I should have it easy.

To a 20-something-year-old college student, I am an equal. I am someone who not only has numerous global catastrophes beating down upon everyday life, but also the stereotypical idealistic mantras that we are so presumed to follow.

To myself, I have it similarly as difficult as the ones who came before me. My difficulties are no way parallel to yours, but my difficulties are significant in their own way.

Dear elders,

You're right. You had to walk so incredibly far to and from school just to get an education. I commend you. I commend your efforts, your persistence, and your heart. But, you in no way had it as difficult as those before you. Slavery. Uncharted waters. Holocaust.

How does it feel? How does it feel to have your problems belittled?

You're right - I'll never know what it was like to have to wait for my carrier pigeon to arrive. I'll never know what it was like to have to work on a farm from the second I could walk.

You'll also never know what it's like to grow up in a world where we are pressured to live a life greater than possible. You'll never know the derogatory remarks of choosing a life of happiness over money. You'll never know the constantly evolving world and the side-eyes we may get from not evolving at the same speed. You'll never understand that.

But who are we to tell you that? Who are we to shove our problems down your throats and force you to feel sorry for us?

Let's get real. We're all just trying to get through the same days while creating a lifestyle that is both sustainable and flattering. Why does our world around us make our generation out to be such degenerate hoodlums with no other goal than to vandalize? When is it our turn to create a name and a vibe for ourselves? When can we show our shining attributes?