The term “millennial” gets thrown around a lot these days. Unfortunately, the meaning associated with millennials is usually negative. If you want, take a minute to read why you should change your perspective on this subject.
In Webster-Merriam’s dictionary, millennial is defined as “denoting people reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century.” I happen to fall into this category along with thousands of my peers. Speaking from experience, there are millennials that are the way the society represents us. However, there are those same kinds of people in every generation group. Even the baby boomers are picky about their Starbucks® coffee, and which coupons get accepted at the grocery store. There will always be people who think that something isn’t good enough for them. You can’t change that. However, America as a whole is neglecting to show all the amazing things that millennials are capable of.
As a college student, I am very aware that education is expensive. Some of my peers have realized the same thing and have decided to find better work in the trades to make a better life for themselves individually. We are smarter than you think and stronger than you know. We have been through an ever-changing educational system since we started kindergarten. Every requirement has changed since then and we are still constantly adapting to the changes in our economy. We are hardworking. We have the shit minimum wage jobs. We have the jobs that no one else wants. We put our money in savings invest our money. We pay for our schooling and work hard for the scholarships that we receive. That is where the main complaint about wages and employment comes from with millennials. We work our rear-ends off and still get treated like all we do is spend “mommy and daddy’s money”. You honestly think anyone has money to do that? Hell no. We have to grow up and adult too.
The biggest lie the media is telling you is that “millennials get everything handed to them.” If that was the case, I sure as hell wouldn’t be submitting my resume to different stores everyday. We have to work to get the things we need, and even harder to get the things we want. I was taught all my life that you have to give a little to get a little. I believe that millennials are getting this message with a lot of baggage attached to it.
There is also an assumption that millennials can’t hold a relationship. Holding the relationship isn’t the hard part about dating in the 21st century. The problem is that technology has created a clear brick wall between what is real and imaginary. The wall is very strong, but transparent enough to give you a hint of what it would be like to dive in head first, but who wants to dive if they aren’t sure if there’s nothing but rocks at the bottom of that lake? There is no way to tell who someone truly is in this day in age until you bond with them without a screen. Millennials can hold a relationship, they just have technology making it hard. Love is just another fantasy to us. It’s hard to trust anyone anymore when everyone has a different story and outlook. What is real?
We are all chasing a dream, regardless of generation. Everyone has something they’re trying to reach. For the sake of struggling souls everywhere, please leave the millennials alone. Don’t waste your time trying to tell us that we can’t or that we aren’t capable. I know, with every inch of my body, that a millennial will very confidently tell you, “watch me” and prove you dead wrong.