Today’s generation of young adults are known as “millennials.” According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, a millennial is “a person who was born in the 1980s or 1990s.” We are the generation of people born into a budding world of innovation and promise, and we have a lot of potential to create an incredible future for humankind. It sounds innocent enough, but millennials get a bad rap. Millennials are known to think of themselves as being entitled and older generations love to remind us. Supposedly we think we are entitled to this and that, and I resent that implication.

First of all, sure, there are some spoiled kids that fit that definition, but this is true with every generation. No matter when you were born, there were always some kids who had it all and didn’t have to do anything to earn it. So yeah, I suppose there are a few millennials who feel enabled. But then, the question really has to be raised, why do we think this way? Why do we feel so “entitled?” Well, it surely didn’t magically spawn from within us-- it has been taught to us. So to be fair, if we feel we are entitled, it is because you are the ones who raised us with this mindset.

Second, there are so many millennials who work their asses off, and this assumption just isn’t fair. Personally, I work two jobs year-round to pay for my education. If I want something, I don’t expect it to just appear for me-- I work hard for it. I don’t take anything I have for granted. In fact, I live with 5 other girls, all of whom have jobs while going to school. And maybe it’s just because I go to a college with determined students, but I know tons of other millennials with incredible work ethic.

Finally, what about all of the incredible ideas that millennials bring to the table? We are perhaps the most forward-thinking generation the world has ever seen. In every major movement--- gay rights, feminism, black lives matter-- millennials are the moving force behind them. We have so much power via technological knowledge and advancement, and for the most part, I believe we put it to good use. We millennials are extremely liberal, open-minded, and innovative, so frankly it doesn’t make sense as to why we are seen as the lazy scum of the century.

In summary, millennials are a group of individuals with a common era of birth, but that doesn’t mean that we can be generalized. Every time period has their own group of entitled citizens, so it isn’t fair to make one assumption about an entire group of people. Not everybody fits the mold of a deserving millennial, and it is important to realize that this can be extremely offensive to us hard-working, determined, persistent millennials. Please don’t make generic assumptions about millennials, or about any group of people for that matter. Everybody is an individual with distinct characteristics and deserves to be treated as such.