The Musings of a Misguided Millennial
Millennial
/miˈlenēəl/
noun
1. A term coined by William Strauss and Neil Howe in 1987 to describe the generation with birth years ranging from the early 1980’s to 2000’s. Millennials are often described as tech-savvy, connected, sheltered, collaborative, and adventurous.
Also see: Me me me Generation, Generation Y
As a member of the millennial nation, I can affirm on behalf of my peers that these descriptions apply to many of us. Born during the Dot Com Revolution and raised by “helicopter” parents, we have had the luxuries of living in communities where information about the world is at our fingertips and overprotective parents cater to our every need. As an individual who identifies closely with …show more content…
Using this accumulation of information, we started to produce our own perception and worldview. Through the prompting of my peers, teachers, and media, I began to formulate my life-purpose around happiness and community. “What do you want to do when you grow up?” “I don’t know, but something that makes me happy”. I was also swayed by my peers to become more impartial when it comes to faith; not choosing one ideology over another, instead surrendering to our own lack of knowledge and ceasing to search at all. This tendency towards indiscrimination pervades many aspects of millennial life, from our penchant for moderate views to our opinions about gender-neutrality. Personally, it has brought about my agnosticism. As these Millennial values began to take root and develop, so did my internal compass. Although my parents were still a big part of my environment, they became auxiliary influences as my personal principles began to divert further from those of my parents and closer to those of my fellow members of Generation Y. Throughout my adolescence, my environment mostly consisted of these like-minded peers as well as the technology that was able to bring us close to each other and to the information around us. As a result, my ambivalence and belief that happiness was …show more content…
Young people were more involved in activism, and environmental awareness became the new “cool”. However, despite the good that came from these actions, the language around them still involved fame, vocation, and respect, not genuine interest in the environment. During my time here, my personal environment shifted to include the culture of, and ideas held by, Berkeley students. I felt pressured to be constantly conscious of issues pertaining to the environment, democracy, and economics, and to find and implement solutions. Acting on this pressure, I joined a student organization called Calpirg, which employed grassroots activism and student advocacy to tackle problems regarding climate change and democracy. I initially thought of Calpirg as just another extracurricular that could teach me valuable skills and enable me to boast to my friends about my involvement in activism. I never imagined I would be changed in such a radical and fundamental way. After I joined Calpirg, I was regularly exposed to passionate students who truly cared about the state of the environment and labored endlessly to preserve it. These people did not engage in activism to garner attention or pad their résumés; they did it because they actually wanted to preserve the Earth and fight for the public interest.
Millennial
/miˈlenēəl/
noun
1. A term coined by William Strauss and Neil Howe in 1987 to describe the generation with birth years ranging from the early 1980’s to 2000’s. Millennials are often described as tech-savvy, connected, sheltered, collaborative, and adventurous.
Also see: Me me me Generation, Generation Y
As a member of the millennial nation, I can affirm on behalf of my peers that these descriptions apply to many of us. Born during the Dot Com Revolution and raised by “helicopter” parents, we have had the luxuries of living in communities where information about the world is at our fingertips and overprotective parents cater to our every need. As an individual who identifies closely with …show more content…
Using this accumulation of information, we started to produce our own perception and worldview. Through the prompting of my peers, teachers, and media, I began to formulate my life-purpose around happiness and community. “What do you want to do when you grow up?” “I don’t know, but something that makes me happy”. I was also swayed by my peers to become more impartial when it comes to faith; not choosing one ideology over another, instead surrendering to our own lack of knowledge and ceasing to search at all. This tendency towards indiscrimination pervades many aspects of millennial life, from our penchant for moderate views to our opinions about gender-neutrality. Personally, it has brought about my agnosticism. As these Millennial values began to take root and develop, so did my internal compass. Although my parents were still a big part of my environment, they became auxiliary influences as my personal principles began to divert further from those of my parents and closer to those of my fellow members of Generation Y. Throughout my adolescence, my environment mostly consisted of these like-minded peers as well as the technology that was able to bring us close to each other and to the information around us. As a result, my ambivalence and belief that happiness was …show more content…
Young people were more involved in activism, and environmental awareness became the new “cool”. However, despite the good that came from these actions, the language around them still involved fame, vocation, and respect, not genuine interest in the environment. During my time here, my personal environment shifted to include the culture of, and ideas held by, Berkeley students. I felt pressured to be constantly conscious of issues pertaining to the environment, democracy, and economics, and to find and implement solutions. Acting on this pressure, I joined a student organization called Calpirg, which employed grassroots activism and student advocacy to tackle problems regarding climate change and democracy. I initially thought of Calpirg as just another extracurricular that could teach me valuable skills and enable me to boast to my friends about my involvement in activism. I never imagined I would be changed in such a radical and fundamental way. After I joined Calpirg, I was regularly exposed to passionate students who truly cared about the state of the environment and labored endlessly to preserve it. These people did not engage in activism to garner attention or pad their résumés; they did it because they actually wanted to preserve the Earth and fight for the public interest.