I don’t want to say that I never did this—because never is so absolute—but I very rarely ever referred to myself or anyone else in my age group as a “millennial.”
After my sophomore year, I conducted an exercise wherein I asked some of my friends who was in the same-age group as mine to think of five words to describe themselves and five words that others would use to describe them. Millennial never came up.
And yet, it’s a word that’s constantly used to describe us. And with that term comes the rep of being impatient, entitled, short-attention-spanned, tech savvy, couch patato and so on—but it’s not all bad. Some say there are perks to being a millennial that all of us “youngins” should embrace.
So often we hear older people reminiscing fondly over their days of youth and us young people expressing our desire to grow up. Apparently, the grass is always greener on the other side. Before you go wishing with great determination to skip your youth and become an adult, remember these reasons about why it’s so great to be young.
We can ask anything and always gets an answer. We are young, and with youth comes mistakes. We are expected to make mistakes. We’re inexperienced, untrained and amateurs when it comes to work. While some millennials may strut into a workplace oozing with confidence, some are like a bunch of chickens with heads cut off in the first weeks on the job. But we’re allowed to confess our rookie status and that merits more support. Help comes from many directions as coworkers or classmates are eager to take the time and effort to show you the ropes. On top of that, we can ask stupid questions—I’m an expert in that field.
There are many good things to look forward to. We still have so many firsts we are yet to experience: our first home, first salary, first big professional achievement, etc. We all think of something good for our future and one of the good things we want to have is our first-ever “the first thing I bought for myself,” which motivates us to work harder and organize things. As they always say, “there is always a first time in everything.” A good foundation of work can lead us to a great way to look forward to good things in the future. We are just at the start of our timeline and it’s exciting to think of all the great things that are waiting for us down the track.
The feeling that we can do everything. Many young people have a knack for being active, which can really come in handy when we want to get stuff done. We are free and we can do everything we want to do; things are reachable and things are much closer to us. Although there are a heap of young people with lots of responsibilities, our youth is a time that is unburdened by boring tasks like paying bills and mortgages. Even though we become more independent and free in a sense as we grow older, being unrestrained by responsibilities is a type of freedom in itself. Make the most of it! Living young and wild and free!
We can multitask and still do things properly. The millennials marked the dawn of the “child tech army.” I was a youngster during the dot-com bubble and I had my first iPod mini at the age of 6. Internet, wearables and video games, among others, matured as I did so it’s no surprise that millennials know technology like the back of their swift-texting hands. On one hand, we’re criticized for gluing our eyes to our phone and laptop screens nonstop (and I agree with this statement). However, there’s a good flipside: our technology prowess. Being tech-savvy, in a world of growing gadgets and innovation, is an invaluable quality to have. We have smartphones that make accomplishing errands easier and faster. If businesses want to stay relevant and sharp, they’ll have to rely on those who can navigate the technology labyrinth.
We can learn anything with just one snap. Millennials know where to find good information and facts. In an instant, they can gather big ideas from small files, virtual or from the book. Its a huge advatage for millennials to learn things in an instant. Nowadays, you won’t be able to survive if you’re left behind the trend. These generation brings out the alertness out of us. We need to stay stable and we need to be able to cope with all the news and issues that we have been hearing. It’s nice to know that millennials can do that easily. You don’t know where to get movies? Go to Iflix or Netflix. Been sitting around and want to read a book, Go to iBooks. Everything is in our reach, we just need to learn how to use them properly.
Today’s generation is very different from the past, every single bit of everything has changed. Still, our youth can’t say pass on what the past generations bring on the table. We’ll be wrong if we do so. They can do things beyond our myths. They can make things we thought that was impossible. They can think of things we have never thought of before.
Nonetheless, we are needed, now more than ever.
Millennials are removing the stereotypes stamped on their foreheads and placing their redefined stamps on the world.
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Joshua Cyril Constante Razon is currently president of the Association of Students in Industrial Arts, an organization of his baccalaureate program. Like his story online via the BusinessMirror Millennials Universe (BMMU) Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Millennial-Universe/435594193285671. Follow BMMU on Twitter via @millennial_U or Instagram (type Millennial Universe). E-mail comments or story to millennialuniverse@yahoo.com and the editor at dennis.estopace@gmail.com.