"Grasshopper Minds"

The Millennial generation, otherwise known as Generation Y, is described in—let’s face it—harsh terms. However exaggerated or severe this view of Generation Y is, I believe we were unmasked. Maybe some of our generation doesn’t agree with it because it wasn’t spoken, or should I say, written in our language. The short and vowel-less letters we take for words written in messages and received on a little device we always have accessible: our all powerful mobile phones.

I found the example of the piano teacher especially funny. Generation X was expected to practice the piano every day and yet Generation Y assumes that practicing enough to get by guarantees success. The work ethic is completely distinct. My father started working at the age of 13 and he continued to go to school at the same time. He received his high school diploma and later took some college courses after two years in the Marine Corps while he worked. My father told me that I would not work during high school because my first priority in this stage of my life was to study. Before I turned 16, the legal age to work, I was fully prepared to have a part-time job and go to school simultaneously; but when I actually turned 16, my priorities changed. I realized that being able to say “I’m going over to Elizabeth’s house” or “I’m gonna go eat with some friends” without having to check a work schedule was more important than making money that I figured my parents would give me anyway.

The “safety diaper” is something I am VERY aware of. Brownsville, Texas—my hometown—is a community largely populated by Mexican-American students; our greatest problem is getting high school graduates to leave home and attend college somewhere else. Much of the college experience is learning independence and yet, most of our high school graduates have one of two problems. The first group believes that leaving home would sever ties to everything they have ever known; they are fearful of change—especially the possibility that this change might be difficult. The second group actually does leave home for the first semester or year; then, they find that success actually takes dedication and work. Home is just a click of their heels away after all. Of the 500+ students in my graduating class, only 4 of us left the state. Of the six high schools—roughly about 3000 high school graduates—less than fifteen of us left Texas. I don’t even want to know how many actually remain in Brownsville.

Yes we will continue to adapt and switch and try new things, but is that because of the incredibly short attention span we’ve developed? And if so, is that why reading novels has become a pastime for Generation X during those airplane rides and listening to iPods has become a routine for Generation Y as long as the battery doesn’t die out? Our new media allows us to accomplish what no other Generation before us has done, yet so much time is spent on Facebook and Myspace, Youtube and Blogger, AIM and MSN Messenger, etc. that hobbies become necessities.

I’ve been a good student since Pre-Kinder and ever since I can remember I was told that I could do whatever I felt most passionate about. I was coddled and reminded of my unique character every day and I “never asked why.” Yes, we are the future of the world and the economy. Yes, we do possess extraordinary technological skills. Yes, technological gadgets seem an extension of our bodies and we multi-task. Am I special because I have these resources? Or am I special because I use them relentlessly and simultaneously for my slanted priorities?