Life Before Noon: A Millennial’s Manual

At an after-work function last week, a colleague (it still feels weird for me to say that) was discussing a recent issue he had with a parent of a prospective student. He was appalled that this student’s parent was doing all the work for him — calling about this and that — when the student should be the one taking the initiative to get the questions he had answered himself. After this little rant several of my co-workers just looked at each other and in unison shook their heads and simply said one word, “Millennials.”

It got me thinking.

Being a Generation Y blogger and all, I should have been well aware of what I was getting myself into. Perhaps I’m just naive, okay really naive, but I entered my first post-grad job not concerned with a potential divide that could exist between the Baby Boomer generation and the Millennials. (And for that matter, where do those angst-ridden Generation Xers come into play?) But the truth is an (typically) unspoken rift between the old and the new thrives in the workplace. That’s life, kid.

If I had a nickel for every computer tip I’ve given in the last three weeks, well let’s just say, I’d have a lot of nickels. But technology isn’t the only thing we’re good at. Despite what you may think, some of us can take constructive criticism and accept failure as a possiblity. And most of us certainly wouldn’t allow our parents to do the talking for us.

Stereotypes exist. And I’m not out to become some beacon of hope for my fellow Millennials and launch some overzealous political movement fighting for right to party. But I hate being la bled as a self-involved whiner who needs to be spoon-fed success in order to sleep at night.

Not all of us were given trophies just for participating in Little League. Some of us got them for actually being able to hit a ball every now and then.

-Marilyn

I recently read the post, ˝Do You Have Regrets? What Should You Tell Your College Self?˝ by Tiffany Monhollon from Personal PR. I really enjoyed Tiffany’s ideas on what she would tell her college self. Many of her ideas are what I too would tell myself.

In particular what struck me was the section on ‘Broaden your horizons’ because it is a situation that I am in right now. No matter what happens abroad, I know that I can go back to Virginia and live with my parents and try something else if the international experience ends up not being up my alley. It’s the opportunity to try something different without too many repercussions is what makes the position that much more appealing.

Tiffany ends the post by asking what would we tell our college selves now. I would tell myself to take more chances. It’s not that I really regret anything that I’ve done or haven’t done, but if I could go back I would do so much more, whether it ended up being good or bad to just at least try it. The things that matter to me the most are what Tiffany writes about with relationships. The people I met throughout college are what I will remember the most, not the statistics test or environmental science lab. The good, bad and ugly relationships that developed during college are something that I will always keep with me.

Even though it would be fabulous to go back, it’s also good to take note and make the future that much better, knowing what we know now. I can’t go back to being 19 and terrified of what lies ahead, but I can realize what has and hasn’t worked and make my new chapter that much more memorable- and have this really be the best time of my life.

-Aida

Yes. The last weekly spotlight.

Next week is our last week of college. Everyday next week, each author will be posting about her feelings towards graduation and the future. Look forward to 5 great posts!

Life Before Noon will be going through some changes in the upcoming weeks and months, so get ready! And, unfortunately, the weekly spotlight will be no more. Look forward to more from Life Before Noon this spring and summer.