I turn on the TV, listen to the radio, check social media or look outside my window and all I ever witness is this unsolvable fistfight between change and tradition. An incurable ignorance of opinions other than our own. Violent cries for peace. Hearts hardened towards people who are different from us.

In the recent week, I was told something that I haven't quite been able to shake. I was told that in this world, I already have two strikes against me.

Strike one, I'm a woman.

Strike two, I'm a millennial.

Therefore, I can't mess up, not once, or I'll be out of the game for good.

I was told that I was born a disappointment. That I don't get the same chances and opportunities as other people do solely because of those two reasons.

Millennials are told that we're lazy and weak. The worst generation to ever be produced by the American society. A shame to the generation before us.

But the generation before us, I fear, has forgotten what it feels like to grow up in a time of turbulent change. A time when people are constantly tearing each other down. A time when you disagree with your parents and you can't seem to figure out why. A time when you have to grow up and worry about real life. A time when you realize that some of your friends don't hold the same values as you do. A time when you question how to distinguish between what's right and what's wrong.

Because during a time of change, no one really knows. People write stories or frame videos to fit their own agendas and belief systems. The truth becomes very lost and we begin to question its mere existence or its relevance altogether.

It's easy to look back and say that segregation was wrong. That racial minorities were severely mistreated. It's easy to say that listening to Elvis or Van Halen didn't actually mean you worshipped the devil. It's easy to say these things when hindsight is 20/20.

But I urge you to go back. I urge you to think about what your parents thought of integration or their reaction when you asked to go to that AC/DC concert. I urge you to think about your friends who wouldn't associate with kids from the other side of town. What the TV was showing you about the war in Vietnam or the protests for peace. The threat of the Space Race.

And I want you to remember how very confusing it all was for you.

Change is constant. But there are some seasons that produce change more rapidly than others, and sometimes, it's very hard to keep up and to understand.

For 17 years of my life, this country has been at war. I don't know what it's like not to worry about friends or family overseas. I don't know what it's like to not see pictures of flag-covered caskets almost every day. I don't know what it's like to be at peace. To not be afraid every time I listen to the news. And that's a hard life to give somebody.

It's hard not to be heartbroken by your friends' lack of compassion, when you should be goofing off on a Friday night.

It's hard seeing people who believe the same thing you do react violently and viciously, when you should be freaking out over the fact that someone else still loves The Smiths.

It's hard to see people preach hate. In all forms. When you should be too busy having fun to hate anyone at all.

Growing up in a time of change is hard. It challenges who you are and what you believe. It tells you things that aren't true and instructs you what to believe. It is constant screaming. Constant violence. Constant conflict. Constant confusion.

And everywhere you look, your Facebook wall, the streets of your town, your classroom, your office building, every time you turn on the TV or radio.

There is no peace. There is no content.

And that really wears down on a person. An entire generation, even.

We're seeing hate and cruelty coming from all angles. From police. From criminals. From Republicans. From Democrats. From men. From women. From the straight community. From the gay community. From whites. From blacks. From Christians. From Muslims. From Atheists.

And no matter what we believe or who we stand behind, there is always a protest that went too far. There are always innocent people who were killed or hurt.

There is incessant violence coming from everywhere we look. Criticism. Hatred. Prejudice. Pain.

And that's what it's like to grow up in a time of restless change. We were raised by fear. By panic. By conflict.

We don't know what peace truly feels like or looks like.

And all we're trying to do is find what was taken away from us in the best way we know how.

And sometimes we get lost. We lose our way. We focus on all the wrong things.

So for the people who are equally as confused or lost as I am, there's only one thing that I know to do:

If we can't find peace, we need to start being it.