"Millennials"

   After reading Generations at Work: Millennials, I admit that I am a Millennial.  When I was born my mother was 31 years old and had already had a 4 year old daughter, so she fit in to the average age expectancy of parents in this time period.  As older parents they were more mature and ready to focus on their children.  The Millennials are said to be the busiest generation as far as tight schedules with extra curricular activities, which was true in my childhood.  My mother signed me up for acrobats, ballet, jazz, gymnastics, swimming lessons and girl scouts.  I was very busy child and had little free time.  Though I did enjoy all of these activities, I had a great childhood and I believe these activities made me a stronger more confident person.  

  As a Millennial at the young age of 5, I was lucky like most Millennials to do what most Baby Boomers were not able to do at a young age: Travel around the world.  My first trip at 5 was to Hawaii and a couple years later we went to Costa Rica.  Later when I was in high school I traveled overseas to China, Singapore, Seipadan, and Borneo.  These trips at a young age showed me and other Millennials different cultural ways of living and a sense of globalism. Though as a Millennial I did not have to go far to to see different cultures or ethnicities.  Since grade school I was surrounded by a wide diversity of ethnicities.  Millennials have always thought of themselves as equal to other no matter what race, religion, or sexual orientation, which makes us differ from the baby boomers.   

  Technology has also surrounded the Millennial generation since we were born.  As a child I was exposed to computers at an early age because my father worked at Apple computers, which was just the beginning.  Next came cell phones, lap tops, ipods, video game systems, which myself and all Millennials own.  According to C-Net News we are the multi-tasking generation, we depend on immediate conversations with cell phones, text messages and instant messenger.  Our generation is tech savy and we are the reason there are blogs, wiki, and instant messaging.  C-Net News also stated that most children in the United States, by their seventh birthday will have had talked on a cell phone, played a computer game or mastered the TiVo box, which amazes the technically challenged parents.  This statement struck me because it is very true, since I was a child I have had to teach my mother how to use all technological devices we own.  

    The way we were raised and our technology know how is said to be the reason of our work ethic that differs from the baby boomers.  CBS News explained Millennials as having knowledge and tools to get thing done but we believe it is our way or the highway.  They believe that because we grew up watching Mr. Rodgers telling us that we are special, that was the reason that we do not accept rules or criticism and our bosses have to act like a coach rather than a boss.  I hate to admit it, but this is definitely true.  At my last job, I always felt like I was the best worker there and I would tell my boss what I wanted my schedule to be, I chose my own department and I also chose the people I would work with.  I worked there for five years until they started taking advantage of my skills and I recently quit to find something better, which is a perfect example of a Millennial.  The reason I did this was so I could take as many classes as I can so I can graduate and get a good job in the field that I am studying in school.  My parents have pushed me to do good in school and get a good job that I am happy doing, which is the same for most Millennials.  My parents like other baby boomers got a decent job that paid well enough to get by and were just happy to have a job.  My mother has hated her job for a long time because she settled and I do not want to that to be me.  I learn from my parents mistakes and I am not going to settle.  

  CBS also stated that we put lifestyle and friends before our career.  I do not want to be like Michael Douglas in the film Falling Down, living day to day with a job that I hate and come home to an empty house.  Friends and Family are important to our generation.  Most divorces, like my parents divorce was because of distance.  My father was always at work or on business trips, because of this he became an alcoholic, which made their relationship even harder to deal with.  This is another way I learn from my parents mistakes.  I plan to do everything in my power to keep a good relationship with my boyfriend and friends because they are the most important things in my life that are hard to replace.  When it comes to my job I could replace it, but I cannot replace the love I have.