Not Another Millennial Crisis
If you’re tired of hearing about struggling millennials, imagine how tired we are of living that struggle.
I‘ve heard it all; That my generation is “always complaining” and that our expectations are “too high.” As I reflect on those comments, I realize that the attempt to insult the millennial generation is quite feeble, and, on the contrary, those statements hold a powerful truth.
I am amongst the younger millennials, having been born in 1994, which means I didn’t experience much of the financial hardships many faced after the 2008 Great Recession. I wasn’t spared, however, from the flourishing anxiety that demands to know “what the hell am I doing with my life?”
After graduating high school, I chose a different path than most, I left home for the military instead of college. As a result, my lifestyle compares drastically different than my millennial peers, almost as drastic as most millennials compare to previous generations.
Generational disparities are normal, of course, as society and the economy shift. The millennial contribution to society, however, measures distinctly. I believe this is so because we refuse to settle and urgently seek our own unique place amongst society in which we feel valued, a place that makes all the hard work and lost money worth it.
In the wake of the 2008 economic recession, people were motivated to pursue college degrees in order to compete with their peers seeking employment. They paid anyone, anything, for that luxurious piece of paper we call a degree without considering the long-term financial consequences.
Early in my military career I realized that I wouldn’t be in the military forever. So, as many millennials did when they saw tough times ahead in the early 2000’s, I enrolled in college and eventually completed my associate degree while active duty.
Although I felt ahead of many of my enlisted peers, I knew that an associate in communication wouldn’t do much for me in the real world. After making the decision to leave the military, I prepared to attend school full time with the hopes that a new career and financial security would be the result.
This leads me to my current [millennial] journey: a full time student, seeking part time employment, internships, anything to “get my foot in the door,” at 26. Though it took me longer to get here, I’m a cliché.
I’m not sure about the rest of the millennial generation, but I feel like I am constantly playing catch up. Not only did my eight year service remove me from the societal bubble in which kids know the ins and outs of self-marketing, blogging, social media content creation, SEO this, or analytics that, but the pandemic hit only three months after I officially became a civilian again.
Although this past year brought many opportunities for personal growth, I haven’t felt the same progress towards my professional growth — even though I spend my free time trying to learn all things internet, social media, and like, Adobe programs. But if there’s anything I’ve learned as a 26 year old college student surrounded by Gen Z, it’s that personal and professional development can be the same thing, if you know what you’re doing.
We shouldn’t underestimate Gen Z, they know what makes money on the internet and how to turn a hobby into a hustle. Many millennials can only dream about doing what they love and fear the pursuit because they are too familiar with the term: financial risk.
The other day, I said to my wife: “we have to know so much to survive out here nowadays and I just want to write.” I’ve often grown resentful of my military service because of the plethora of irrelevant experience I have. Sure, hiring managers would know I’m a veteran but I’ve learned the tough way that no one cares.
It seems like if you want to prove yourself worthy of employment in 2021, you have to know the lingo, make the website, hire the resume expert, act like Leo in The Wolf of Wall Street, stay active on social media, learn the TikTok trends and dances, oh yeah, and sell yourself to the devil.
The pressure of fulfilling all of these societal expectations creates that unhealthy resentment as well as the daily anxiety when I start to wonder what happens next ?— After I graduate — what then? Another degree? Most likely. But, wait. I still need a job, no, a career. How do I get one of those? Hiring managers won’t see past my military experience and my school projects aren’t worth shit. Why am I in school again? I’m too old to be in this crisis. Figure it the fuck out. And so on the vicious cycle.
In 2013, Time magazine referred to millennials as “ The Me Me Me Generation,” the title deriving from our supposed narcissistic selfie obsessions. Last year, the Atlantic referred to millennials as “the new lost generation” after reviewing the financial vulnerabilities of millennials as the pandemic threatened millions of jobs.
We have been insulted and also praised. We are a juxtaposed generation of rich and poor, narcissist and selfless, nurtured and entitled. My question now is — isn’t it obvious? Why it is that millennials are always complaining? Or why it is so that millennials have high expectations?
Millennials are tired. Tired of the insults, of the setbacks and of the inevitability of being at the center of economic collapse and extreme societal shifts. We lived in the post-technology era and adapted as it transformed our lives. The Great Recession arrived, and we plunged into the seas of student loan debt. The pandemic hit and, well, people of all generations suffered. What does all of this say about millennials? That we are fearless. That we find solutions in order to overcome adversity, regardless of the cost, the amount of work, and the sacrifices — time, relationships, and our mental health.
