Millennials: the generation stereotyped as being technology-obsessed, activity-focused, and self-indulgent. I will be the first to admit some of these stereotypes are true about many of us. I wouldn’t know how to correctly cite sources for a paper without using a website that does it for me. I get a small bout of anxiety when I am unsure of the location of my phone. I rely on the Internet for sources and news and communication with people back home. I am a millennial, and I am proud of that.

Have Your Voice Heard: Become an Odyssey Creator

We millennials are often referred to as “The Next Generation.” People see us as the future of America, the immanent leaders of the world. This is a scary thing. The fate of the world lies in our hands. However, we are not only the future. We are the present. Millennials are making such drastic changes to the world we live in. We are a generation that is currently altering society. We vote, run for public office, protest, work, go to school, raise families, pay taxes. We are not waiting for our time to improve culture. We are shifting how the world runs today.

Millennials, we need to stop letting those older than us forget our influence. We need to go out into the world, make changes, advance systems, voice our opinions. Stop relying on the people who have run our country to continue to run it; we have ideas, and they need to be heard.

Older generations, believe that you raised us right. I’m sure you feel scared to give so much power to the adults who you saw as children. I’m sure you feel responsible for improving the country, but we want to help. We have ideas that your generation hasn’t thought of. We have plans to improve infrastructure, eliminate diseases, relinquish poverty. Allow us this chance. You taught us everything we know; trust that it is enough.

Imagine the great progress our country could make if the divide between generations was not seen as a gap, but as a stepping stone toward advancement and integration. Each generation has unique qualities and ideas to offer. Oh, the benefits we would reap if we listened to each other! Our life experiences are so different, and we need to use them all—let us develop a mix of philosophies that take each person’s best thoughts and combine them into one. Our binary way of thinking- either this or that- does not suffice for the improvement I wish upon our great nation. Neither solely older generations nor younger generations will suffice right now; we need to be actively involved in the lives of each other, taking and developing ideas from different groups of people to provide our country the opportunity to thrive.