Young adults. Everyone we meet was one, is one, or will be one. At some point, people all reach that notorious “college-age” point in their lives. Looking from the outside in, it’s all booze, parties, and nonsense. However, once you get to that golden age, you see it for what it really is: responsibility. College kids nowadays are often accountable for getting jobs, paying rent, buying schoolbooks, making car payments, you name it. With the advancement of times and technology, young adults are faced with some pretty hefty decisions and expenses. Students walk a fine line between social overload and closet shut-in who can’t pay their bills. In reality, they’re making the same types of decisions as adults, just on a different scale.

Now, we have all heard our elders say, “Back when I was your age…” but times have changed. College-aged kids now have a much heavier load to bear, including a whole list of newfound responsibilities. Regardless, young adults still are profiled everyday as being incompetent and inexperienced in all things adult-like. I know from personal experience that college-aged kids are cheated more often times than not. Get in a minor car wreck with a soccer mom on the way to class in the morning? Automatically the student’s fault. And guess what, buddy? Your insurance just skyrocketed. Taking your significant other out to a nice dinner for their birthday? Your waiter sure isn’t going to give you the same level of service as the businessman and his wife are receiving just a table away.

But why is this? Well, one simple statement says it all: you’re young. It isn’t fair, but life isn’t fair. Profiling of young adults has and will always happen because it is the easiest way out in most situations. No policeman really wants to sit there for hours mediating between you and the soccer mom that clearly merged into your lane without looking, and then eventually taking it to court. It’s a sad reality, but one that we, as a society of young adults, have to face head-on. At the risk of sounding like an angry teenager locking themselves away in their room and wearing too much eyeliner, college kids will always be seen as inept when put up against someone older than them.

Growing up, we are taught to respect our elders, but we are also taught to treat others how we want to be treated. Shouldn’t this go both ways? It should, but often times it fails to apply across the board. The one question I have for the adults that classify us in that way is this: Weren’t you a college-aged kid once?