Living in a college town like Pullman makes it incredibly easy to see multiple, different walks of life. I have seen the 25-year-old who has busted his a** through the last five years to be able to put himself through school, I have seen the 21-year-old girl wearing a different $350 outfit daily, and I’ve seen the 50-year-old woman who has raised six kids and decided to go back to school. All of these people clearly have different backgrounds and, as we all know we are raised by someone. Whether they are parents, grand parents, aunts and uncles, it doesn’t matter, someone in life took time to raise you one way or another.
Growing up I had a pretty simple life, directed from my very middle class parents until high school where their business happened to take off and has continued to do well since. Just because my parent’s income changed didn’t mean that anything in the ways of my life did. I was given the same chores (if not more), I was taught the importance of knowing monetary value, I was consistently reminded that it is better to be kind and giving than it is to show the world how much I had. At the time, 16-year-old me hated it. I was at a school where my best friend’s first car was a new BMW, everyone had an iPhone and talked about their summer trips to Israel and China. I felt this constant need to have the newest thing and post pictures on Facebook to get some kind of validity.
When I entered college, I realized that the only thing different from high school was that the people I was surrounded by claimed to be adults. My mind was blown as to how much I knew about the real world in comparison to my peers. Someone please explain to me how you are such an adult but you swipe your dads credit card at every point on campus, or how you are so mature but have somehow just acquired your first job at the age of 20 and have no problem living at home or having your parents pay your rent. I was about 50 percent more pissed off than I was in high school because not only did everyone seem to have their lives handed to them on a silver platter, but felt entitled as f*ck to be who they were. It took me some time to come to terms with the fact that some people are dealt “easier” hands than others and I realized how thankful I am that I was not one of those people all because of the two humans that raised me.
Sure, it would have been simpler to not worry about having a job and paying bills but because I was 15 when I got my first job, not only do I have a savings built up, but I have the ability to perfect a resume and handle an interview with confidence. Maybe it would have been nice for my dad to buy me a 2014 Chevy Cruise but it is even better to say my 2003 Honda Civic is mine and built my credit high enough to buy a d*mn house. I realize that the girls (and guys) walking around campus in their Patagonia sweatshirts, swiping their daddy’s cards for their new Rock Revival jeans (gross) and trying to start tabs at the bar I work at in a name clearly given to someone of at least 30 years older than them, are completely oblivious. Not that being oblivious condones arrogance and ignorance by any means but it probably isn’t entirely their fault they value the brand on their coat more than the future they will knowingly attempt to provide for themselves and their children.
It’s a very easy thing to get caught up in the only things Millennials seem to value but if you are someone raised by wonderful parents like I was, take comfort in the fact that some people our age are buying followers on Instagram instead of working a job to put clothes on their children. Take comfort in the fact that even if you are struggling to pay for college, even if your parents are capable of paying for it, you are building a future brighter than you can imagine for yourself. It will only mean that much more when you get the job you’ve dreamed of or getting that acceptance letter to medical school.
It’s so simple to see the negative when surrounded by people who weren’t taught to do life the way you were. It seems unfair, underappreciated and makes you question what you did to deserve the life you were given. The truth? You did absolutely nothing. You were given a life worth something, a life that your parents taught you to lead. It might be hard sitting in your lecture of 250 people who seem to have it way easier than you do, but they will actually have it much harder when real life hits them in the face. Keep doing what you’ve been taught, and like my parent’s taught me, be independent and be proud of yourself.
