Everyone born in or after the 1980s is considered to be a millennial. We are the “me, me, me” generation. Self-absorbed, entitled, tech addicts, and lazy narcissists are some labels the baby boomers and generation X’ers like to describe our generation. We get labeled the rebellious generation. We refuse to follow any of the unwritten rules set by generations before us. With all of the negative exposure, people are forgetting all the strengths that Generation Y is bringing to the table.

We were born into technology; we don’t know life without it. In this day and age, technology is just unavoidable. Everyone uses it, one way or another, every day of their lives. Millennials use it to their advantage. What our generation has realized, that maybe others haven’t, is that the internet is one of the greatest inventions. We have everything at our fingertips. We might be tech junkies, but who created all of these multi-million dollar sites that you scroll through daily? Lazy millennials, like Mark Zuckerburg.

Millennials are given the name of "lazy" and "entitled." This could not be more wrong. While there are some who think they are entitled, the majority of us don’t. We work so hard. Many of us get our first job in high school, which only turns into two or three jobs while in college. Money had a higher value thirty years ago. In 1970 minimum wage was a whopping $1.60, which would be the same as $9.28 today. In 2015 minimum wage was set at $7.25. We earn less then all of you did when you were our age. Not to mention how much more expensive everything is for us today. Not just the bare necessities of gas, milk, and eggs. College tuition has increased dramatically in the last 30 years. Millennials today are faced with huge amounts of debt. We work our butts off and barely get by. Maybe we are entitled, entitled to the things we work for.

Generation Y is not traditional; I will give you that. We don’t want the things that older generations wanted when they were our age. We don’t want another 9-to-5 job, we want to see and experience the world we live in. Many of us want to travel, do new things. We are carefree and realize that success isn’t based on how much money you make. Starting a family and landing a career is not always on our mind.

We’re called self-absorbed but we truly care about others. Many people in our generation questioned why same sex marriage was even a debate. With a “love is love” mindset, gay marriage was legalized. That’s only one instance. The #BlackLivesMatter movement brought attention to the racial problems that our country is still facing. We see each other as people. As equals. We see the problems our world is facing. We bring light to these issues. We problem solve.

Millennials are not as bad as everyone says. Not only are we caring, hard working and tech savvy but we are also the most welcome to change. We are the innovators of the world. We have helped with equality issues, world problems, and have helped advance technology even further. We are constantly trying to find new ways to learn and going against the grain. We don’t have the mindset of working in a factory. We think bigger. We are bigger.

Millennials get a bad reputation from the older generations. As everyone does, we have our own faults. But we aren’t as bad as everyone thinks. We decide our future and how it is going to play out. We are the generation of the future. We are the generation that will change the world for the better, whether you like it or not.