By Samantha Lund, Columnist
As Millennials, people constantly tell us to put our phones away. They tell us we are losing our roots, and we are losing history, and that we do not have our priorities in order. We are plagued with selfies and Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).
People tell Millennials we are coddled, and we do not work hard enough. They tell us not to expect technology to do everything for us. While it’s true we sometimes waste our time with ridiculous things on YouTube, being a Millennial is much more than that.
Millennials are not like any other generation before. You are special. You might feel like people keep telling you what you are doing wrong or that you need more experience before you can get a good job.
In reality, you are a Millennial, and you are already running the country. Being young is no longer a handicap — it is a strength.
Our generation is the first since the 70s-era generation to be taking a radical stance and pushing for real change. Millennials are a true force in three areas: the workplace, politics and art.
It is no longer “You are the future.” Instead, we have become the now. We are not waiting until we are in our 30s and 40s to get high-paying corporate jobs and have our voices heard. We are a generation of today, and we are not waiting to change our country, we are doing it now.
Junior Allison McClure said she believes the new generation is right on mark. “The fresh perspective is an opportunity to shape the new American value system,” McClure said, “though it’s still important to recognize the past as not simply the wrong way to go about things.”
There are 70 million Millennials, just like you and I, who have not reached the age of 30 yet. The first wave is hitting the workforce and creating new jobs that are different than any before.
Technology is something we are especially skilled in. The technology of our generation is bringing us into higher positions in companies, causing older employees to be stepped over.
We are the new, creative form of business. We bring innovation where tradition used to be. Millennials have taken over the workplace. Everyone knows Mark Zuckerberg. Nobody knows Michael Duke, the CEO of Wal-Mart, which was number one on CNN’s Fortune 500 list.
“As young people,” sophomore Ryan Fenton said, “we hold the potential for power in the country, which is really important.”
Our generation is moving tradition aside and is ready for a bigger and better tomorrow. When it comes to change, we are unwilling to wait.
We have pushed for the legalization of marijuana and gay marriage. We take a stance for things we believe in, and we do not take no for an answer.
Older generations may say we are too radical. However, no other generation has proven to have as much power, or be as radically different and tolerant as we have. We have banded together, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as a generation of new-wave thinkers who will get the change we desire.
Our generation constantly pushes our agenda through our music, our art, our celebrities, and we are not afraid to yell it from the rooftops — or our Twitter accounts and Facebook walls.
But our art, our music and our television programming not only represent what we find beautiful, but what we find important.
Our celebrities represent us, and the change we stand for. Our celebrities know us, and we relate to them. We do not allow the president alone to stand for us, because we are not the same as the rest of America. We are the Millennials. We are different, and we are brilliant.
Next time you think you’ll never get hired or people do not take you seriously because you are 20, you like sports and you do not have as much experience on your resume as the next person, just r
