What are Millennials anyway?

Millennial [mil-len-ee-uh l]. Definition: those that are born between the years 1980-2000, a member of Generation Y.

It’s a Monday morning. You’re sitting in Starbucks sipping you’re decaf latte and reading the front page of the paper, when you spot a young woman walk in out of the corner of your eye. It’s about 30 degrees outside and she doesn’t seem to have a coat. After waiting in line she sits down with her drink at the table next to you. You see her pull out her iPhone and take a picture of her grande iced coffee which she seems to be sending to her friends.

Congratulations! You’ve spotted a Millennial!

Don’t be scared to approach us though, we don’t bite. Although we may not make eye contact with you (whoever is snapchatting us is WAY more important tbh), we’re actually quite friendly!

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Older people like to give us a lot of names. Some call us the selfie generation, while others have dubbed us the “new Silent” generation (i.e. because we’re supposedly always on our phones). There are a lot of myths about Millennials, and being one myself, I’m here to clear the air about my generation.

Currently Millennials are anywhere from 16-36 years old. Millennials were born into an age of ever-changing technology, and there is an assumption that we are always glued to our phones, tablets, laptops, etc. While in some cases that is true, our generation is much more complex than this. We are opinionated, liberal, racially diverse, and educated. We use our technologies to present to the world our unique ideas and perspectives. As a millennial myself, I can say that although I love my technology, I am perfectly capable of sitting down and having an intellectual conversation about pressing issues (whether they be political, economic, or social). I am very passionate about voting, feminism, and equality in general. According to Pew Research Center, we are the most racially diverse generation ever. We also have lower affiliation with regards to religion and politics, with 50% of Millennials identifying themselves as independents and almost one-third saying they do not associate themselves with any religion (Pew).

Our generation is growing up in an increasingly competitive environment. More pressure is on us than ever before to be successful; those of us enrolling in college is increasing every year. Many of us have set high standards and aspire to reach our career goals by finishing our undergraduate education or even graduate school.

Millennials are also vastly misunderstood by other generations. People think we are antisocial, narcissistic, and have loose morals, among other things. This is not the case. Millennials aren’t any better or worse than other generations; we’re just different. And perhaps that is the most interesting thing about Generation Y.

So before you walk out of that Starbucks judging my generation . . . .  get to know me. Who knows, maybe I’ll surprise you.