Generation Y

I am a member of Generation Y.

This is not by choice.

However, we're a pretty awesome generation if I do say so myself.  We're also known as the Technology Generation and the Millennials.

When we were born, personal computers were hilariously horrible, and just starting to become available to those with a lot of money - now we get our toddlers to sit on the potty by giving them a cheap tablet to play with.

Instead of having to adapt to the changes in technology like the generations before us, we expect and even drive demand for constant technological changes. Unless we're going to be doing programming, we don't feel the need to write our computer qualifications on our resume, because everyone knows how to do that stuff.

We think our childhood cartoons are "the" classic cartoons, and, like the elderly commenting on rap, scoff at the shoddy cartoons of today.

We're much more green than past generations.  One aspect of this is in our transportation choices.  Instead of muscle cars, we want efficiency and quality so that we don't have to waste our money on gas and repairs.  We would actually prefer to not even own a car.  In the cities we're not even bothering to learn how to drive, and we think of cars as financial burdens, not status symbols.

Most of us are closer with our parents than our parents were with their parents.

We are making history with our political involvement.  Turning out in record numbers for elections as well as social and political volunteering.

Our main issue is the economical circumstances surrounding our coming-of-age.

Contrary to popular belief, we work hard, we work very hard.  We are trying to start our careers at a time when unemployment is the highest it has been since the great depression.  We're trying hard to find jobs, but we feel so lost.  We want our lives to go somewhere, we want to make an impact in the world, but we feel like no matter what we try, we'll never be able to succeed, and that is so discouraging.

A lot of us are dealing with the judgments from that generation who is slightly older than our parents.  Those who came of age in the 60's and 70's at the height of American success, and they just can't figure out what's wrong with us.  Entitlement is the word they have decided on - and boy is that rich coming from them...

For us in the states, healthcare costs are epically high, and while we know we should have health insurance, we would also love for someone to tell us how we're supposed to pay for it.

One of my teachers once said, during one of his many ramblings to our class, “Shoulda, woulda, coulda – if you’d been born at a different time, you’d have a job when you graduate, but that’s your parents’ fault.”

What do you think are some traits that define the Millennials?