When you're young, you feel immortal. It's why the young are so much more active than the old. It's why they rampage at political rallies, it's why they are the first to shout their opinion, and it's why they are the first to do that stupid, dangerous activity that can get them killed. I know this, because I'm a part of it. I was born in 1997, and am part of the generation that had a short childhood without the cell phone mania and grew up along social media in middle school. I see my peers gush at Bernie Sanders and vigorously defend LGBT rights. I see how proud we are of our generation, and we see the fear our parents have of us.

In Buffalo, Canalside is the place to be on Thursday nights. I was there this week with a group of friends, and truly felt like a spectator at a museum. Heavy music came pouring into the speakers as I saw people my age all around me puff out illegal marijuana smoke or breathe on me with a distinct scent of alcohol. I saw couples all around me make out and grab each other, when they most likely only have known each other for an hour. At this point, I felt extremely uncomfortable. Most of these kids I have known since I was in kindergarten, and now they seemed to be locked in a cycle of instant pleasure. After some people-watching, I did what most people my age do when they feel unsettled, I took out my cell phone. As I looked through Twitter, I saw the same crap fill my newsfeed which made me roll my eyes. It was vines of people flipping water bottles, a rant about how screwed America is in this election, a few photos of the Kardashians, and some inaccurate quote about "living life to the fullest" with a photo of vodka attached to it. When I looked up, I saw one of my closest friends from preschool make out with her friend so she could get a picture posted to the canal side Hook Ups Twitter. Even though I knew it wasn't a huge deal, and was just for fun, I was overwhelmed with what my generation represented.

Obviously we are all unique and individual in our own way, and there are plenty of teenagers that aren't like this, but there are a few things I have picked up from observing my peers and myself.

We are a group of people who love romanticizing things that are wrong. You tend to get judged if you haven't slept with a ton of people or don't feel like smoking. To us, drugs and sex aren't a sin, they're life experiences that are supposed to bring fulfillment. A lot of people identify with socialism because it's supposed to fix the gap between the rich and the poor but don't understand that without incentive, our country will face more problems. We love having things be given to us and not working hard for it. A computer does it all for us, so why should we? We listen to music that promotes passion and not genuine love. We claim to be "open minded" but are constantly offended by people who might have differing opinions on gay marriage, politics, and life style choices. We have become addicted to what comes quick and easy to us.

I think lots of it comes from the world we grew up in. Today, half of marriages fail in divorce and shatters tons of kids' ideas of permanent effort. Our Instagram feed can be refreshed in seconds. Vines are six seconds long. Our attention spans have been demolished. So, as a result, we seek happiness in the "here and now." I know for myself personally, it's hard for me to appreciate things that have to grow over time, I want to have it now. It's become a huge problem.

I think my generation has good intentions. We want to be accepting of the underdogs, we want to point out the flaws in our corrupt government system, and we fear the idea of wasting our lives in a 9-5 job. I admire that of my generation, but I see that our hard-wired addiction to the instantaneous is dangerous. If we really want to make a change to our society, we need to learn and work. We cannot regurgitate information that is mainstream. Before we form our opinions, we have to do our research and be open to listening to both sides of the argument. We can't waste our lives in a vicious cycle of easy love and enjoyment to be left with nothing of meaning.

If we are going to live life to the fullest, we need to balance our beliefs with the ones of our parents. We have to work hard, but also stick up for those who do not have a voice. We need to take action, but be well educated about what we are advocating. We need to put the social media down, lower the joint, and fight for what actually matters. Sure, I think marijuana should be legalized but there are plenty of other issues that need our direct attention, now. My generation is special with our unique understanding of the importance of community. We thrive at joining together. If we could do that in a way that was destructive, I could only imagine the change we would bring to this country.