From the ages 18 to 22 there is a lot of change to be had in the life of a young adult. There is this stark duality of being a teenager and being of age. This fine line is often blurry and messy as the weight of responsibility slowly grows heavier. Some of us have this change at a faster pace, while others experience this transition much more slowly.
Being an “adult” doesn’t look quite like it used to. For starters, our parents' generation often calls us millennials social activists, liberals, poor artists, or just flat-out lazy. They may have a point, but at the same time, it is unfair to group us all together or not try to understand why things are changing in our age group.
With the cost of college, the lack of importance of a college degree, the job market changing, more education on the history of our nation, and young people craving more than the generic “American Dream,” the normalized and socialized behaviors of our nation are changing. When university college kids are learning that our nation has some corrupt history that they did not learn about in their younger years of education and that our nation continues to have a flawed system, wanting to change that is a good thing; trying to find yourself and understand why you believe what you believe is a good thing; searching for a career or vocation that gives you joy and gives your life purpose is also positive. Many people my parents’ age say that sometimes you have to do jobs you do not enjoy, but I must say I disagree. Yes, while there will be jobs you do not enjoy in order to make ends meet, and you should not find your identity in what you do, I think millennials are realizing that most of your time and life span will be spent working and that just seems empty -- especially if you are in a career you thoroughly do not enjoy at times.
I don’t want to be the kind of person who is so worn out from work that when I come home I can’t be present with those around me and enjoy the life that really and truly matters. The way our nation is built is supposed to make us believe that we can pick ourselves up by our bootstraps. But if they system is rigged, and the jobs leave people feeling overworked for little or almost nothing, then something needs to change. I think millennials are realizing this better than anyone.
So while we millennials can at times check our phones too much, be overly passionate on certain political issues, and want to live an extreme lifestyle in order to create a better place to live, at least we care enough to realize that maybe just maybe some things in our society need to start shifting. Our generation wants our country to change for the better. It’s OK to be young and question why things are the way they are and to want to change things.
