The Millennial generation seems to be the ultimate source of awe and discomfort for older generations. Those of us born between the early 1980s and early 2000s are somewhat of a spectacle. Older generations love to call us lazy, dumb, and in a nutshell, inept. Do we even know what a book is? What is “paperback”? Apparently we only know how to use things with screens on them.
We have been called Generation “I” and Generation Selfie amongst other things that are derogatory and undermining, including being named the generation that will end life as we know it. That’s just dramatic. In big, bold letters, Time Magazine’s cover story from May 20, 2013 was called, “Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation.” Underneath those bold letters reads, “Millennials are lazy, entitled narcissists who still live with their parents.” Underneath that reads, “Why they’ll save us all.” The key in that story is the latter part.
Millennials are not lazy or entitled. College students are forced to juggle being full-time students, working to pay off seemingly insurmountable loans; along with other aspects of life like friends, family, health, and even just surviving. Not to say that past generations did not have to deal with that as well. However, past generations, namely Baby Boomers, did not have to deal with and be responsible for fixing an economic crisis (I wonder who made that, anyway?). That’s including high unemployment rates, too. We have a lot on our shoulders and we are responsible for shaping the world for the next generations to come. Because of the state of the “real world” as we’ve come to know it, we know not to take that responsibility lightly.
According to Ivey Business Journal, Millennials’ strengths are being well educated, skilled in technology, very self-confident, able to multi-task, and have plenty of energy. This is entirely different from Baby Boomers’ work habits which are the product of large corporate hierarchies.
Millennials are not dumb. Yes, we like selfies. Yes, we like smartphones. Yes, we grew up at a time where there was a sudden surge in technological growth. That does not make us dumb. Actually, we are the most educated generation.
Millennials are the largest, most diverse generation of the U.S. population. That’s according to the Millennials Report from the White House. The Millennial population is comprised of 95 million people, as opposed to Baby Boomers’ 78 million. As a diverse population, we have been alive to witness social issues, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the legalization of same-sex marriage, immigration reform, and intersectional feminism.
Politicians teach us that “children are the future.” Well… yeah, duh. What is important here is that now Millennials are pretty much grown up. Millennials are actually starting to mean something to society! And now, drum roll please, most of us can vote. We are the future and our generation is important now more than ever.
Millennials are the next leaders of the nation. Our generation has the next CEOs, government officials, presidents, and civil rights leaders. Soon, we will make up a majority of the work force. Our generation has changed marketing, jobs, and American politics. We are different and we know that, but different isn’t bad. It’s just different.
In conclusion, we’re pretty badass.