How society sees us:

We sleep too much. All we do is “Netflix and chill.” We’re ignorant, self-centered and would rather look at our phone than make eye contact with a person. We don’t care about school and only go to college for a good time. The future doesn’t matter to us; we’re only living for the now. We might fail out, but at least we had fun doing it. Social media has all of the answers, why do we even read textbooks? It’s obvious that we don’t care about the “important things” and there’s no hope for us.

Our reality:

At least eight hours of sleep is required for a person to feel fully awake and ready to take on the day. Netflix actually has some pretty awesome shows and movies, and people of all ages watch it. We are growing up in a world where everyone is going to college. This makes our chances of finding a job extremely difficult. If you have to be a little self-centered to get you where you need to be, that’s not necessarily a bad thing; it shows that you are driven and focused on finding a job in your ideal career field. School is about finding the balance between academics and extracurriculars. If a nursing major studied anatomy every hour of the day, they would not be able to function anymore. Although we get tons of work and assignments, we need to have free time to communicate, socialize and go on adventures.

If we only focus on the future, we are too anxious. We would be wishing all of our time away and taking it for granted. Plenty of people say, “you’re young, you have plenty of time,” but in reality, time is going by too fast. Social media is something everyone uses. You can keep up with your friends, family, favorite celebrities and the news. Going away to school has proved how important social media is, especially to see what is going on with my friends and family. If there’s a car accident nearby, a news station’s Twitter is the first to report it. We do care about the “important things,” it’s just that our version of important may be different than yours. We agree on the value of some things, but not all. You should have all your faith in us because someday, we’ll be the heads of companies, the most accomplished worker in a department, the principal of a school and maybe even your boss.

It’s difficult to grow up in a society where we are constantly judged, criticized and under a watchful eye. The pressure on us is immense, and at some point we’re going to crack—it’s inevitable. This only makes us recognize our mistakes and become stronger because of them. We are taught by our parents, family and friends, but we continue to grow upon what we have learned. I’m sorry Mom and Dad, but just remember the next time I’m on my phone at the dinner table, I’m actually learning something.