We are not a lost generation

Meenakshi Sathish
Editor-in-Chief
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              It’s unfair that our generation is being called disappointed and hopeless. I like the Roaring Twenties just like anyone else. I fawn over flapper girl dresses and The Great Gatsby, but please don’t use the term “Lost Generation” on us that Gertrude Stein coined for the young men who came back from war mortified by the world’s violence. It is one thing to call a generation directionless and another to compare them to a generation who were in confusion because all their beliefs were challenged by the amount of bloodshed they saw by the time some of them were eighteen. We are fortunate that many of us won’t ever have to witness that kind of atrocity in our entire lives.  Maybe we do prefer finding our own way just like the youth from ninety-six years ago. However, I am not apologizing for my generation because we like to grow into adults as opposed to flipping a switch to turn into one.
               The Great Recession and the daunting professional competition have not made it easy for Millennials to make it into the work force. While still experiencing the aftermath of the recession, they are paying off student loans and trying to find ways of making money. Some are working as waiters and bartenders even though many of them have a Master’s degree of some form. Consequently, many Millennials are breaking the stigma and are living with their parents after the age of eighteen and pushing off marriage. Actress Chloe Sevigny pities our generation as she says, “I feel sorry for the kids today. It’s all too much,” but is it actually that bad? Because they push off marriage, individuals are now marrying because they actually enjoy the other person’s company rather than marrying for the purpose of just marrying. They are focusing their energy on making money, so they can get their finance in order; they are taking the time to discover themselves and learn what they want from life. Youths don’t get jobs out of nowhere and have to work harder than maybe their parents or grandparents did so they learn the power of hard work. Our generation is learning the importance and power of sweat. Having to be financially accountable, a generation of great budgeters is born. So far, I am not getting a whiff of “directionless” or “hopeless” from my generation.
           

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   Adults love to call out the youth for being entitled and the worst generation while ignoring the fact that they are the ones who raised the said generation. Plus, what is so bad about our generation? Peopled condemned the youth of the 1920s for their careless attitude and partying. Now, we have Roaring Twenties- themed parties as we wish we also partied with Fitzgerald and the others.  There was a time when Elvis Presley was shunned by parents everywhere because of his sexual demeanor. Today, he is regarded as one of music’s most influential figure. No generation is bad, and it is naïve to think so. Our generation has so much to offer; it will just take years to appreciate it. Many of today’s writers will be taught in English classes within fifty to sixty years. Many of today’s musicians will be regarded as legends in the next millennium. We are not a lost generation; no one has shown interest in discovering us. ​