Student tires from millennial stereotypes

Look at me, a baby from 1993. Because our country likes to give generations nicknames such as the baby boomers, I’ve been dubbed a millennial, one who was born between the late 1980s and mid 1990s.

With this name comes the stereotypes, which I, for one, have never been a fan of, because I’m my own person. I’ll touch base on them for a second and I’ll prove exactly why my generation isn’t a lost cause.

When I see our generation being mocked on television, movies and the internet, I hear that we’re picky about everything. We’re into healthy eating and therefore order complicated meals and expect nothing less than perfection. We expect to be treated with the utmost respect in the professional world because we know everything. We’re critical of the generations before us. The world owes us their gratitude and praise. Oh, and we really like to post in real-time about our lives because it’s the most interesting thing in the world and it’s always original and clever.

It seems like there’s a constant battle with each generation of who caused the problems in our world. We say the older generation “started the fire” and they say it was always burning (yeah, I enjoy Billy Joel, what of it?). We say the older generation doesn’t understand technology and is therefore less intelligent, they say they got by without it.

What both of our generations seem to forget is that the world is in a constant state of change, and therefore, simply put, will always be different. It’s how we adapt to it that defines who is better, if there even is a competition.

For instance, many of the internships I’ve had included working with older generations. Because I work in media, I’m required to be up-to-date with technology and what it can do for my professional goals. However, in my internships, I found myself learning from my older generation coworkers. I learned in that time the only way to learn is to simply ask. It also benefited them, because I was able to teach them what I know with advancements in technologies.

I hate that our generation is perceived that way, that we aren’t taken seriously and we don’t respect the generation before us or encourage the generations after us. I think as millennials we need to take a step back and stop blaming and shaming and expecting praise, because that isn’t how the world works. We have to be hard workers and earn our way in the work force.

I find the stereotypes annoying. I feel that I’m already judged because of my generation and that doesn’t seem fair. I believe I’m getting an education and I’m working my butt off to achieve the personal goals that I have. Since when does this mean I need a trophy? Maybe it was how I was raised, but I simply thought this was how the world worked.

I think we should abandon the stereotypes of all generations and simply work together in making the world turn. We’ll have our differences in needs, opinions and our ways of living, but the sooner we recognize we’re all in this together, the sooner we abandon the tensions among us.