December 7, 2010
Generations
I am taking 5 minutes to stop and think without doing anything else at the same time. I never do this.
I work with quite a few young people – young enough to easily be my daughters. I am conditioned by my own generation to see them as stereotypes – generation Z or Y. I’m not sure who’s currently up to bat, but I don’t see an enabled generation tethered to helicopter parents that lack work ethic or real introspection about their lives. I see everything but that and I’m proud, if not envious of the people they are at 22, compared to my own generation at the same place in life. Despite what I am told to believe about them, I see people who are close to their parents, concerned about their own moral compasses and the values that guide their direction. I see people eager for experience and knowledge without concern about getting-paid. I see honesty and compassion every day and I’m thankful that this generation will be the bosses and big brothers and sisters and mentors for my own daughters.
What do you see?
I see what you see, but I also see the stereotypes. (I see a lot more of this generation than you do–when you teach over 350 undergrads per year, you can't help it.) I see the extremes: the students who make me truly proud every day, the ones who are motivated and intellectually curious and enthusiastic about life and big-hearted. I also see students who make me afraid for the future of our country (we are, after all, typically governed by the C students!). And the REAL truth, well, it's somewhere in the middle, obviously.
There are a lot of grumblings about the unusual narcissism of this generation. About how entitled these kids are, how unable to handle failure, how sensitive and hothoused they are, etc. etc. I refuse to jump on that bandwagon. Young adults are young adults–they are not supposed to be mature, perfectly capable, magnanimous, and stable yet. They're young adults. It will come to them. I'm willing to give them some time.
Also, I remember myself at that age