Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while guys. Life really got in the way. But this year I'm taking some time to write! So you will be hearing a lot more from me. Every Tuesday this year, I'm going to post something. It might not be particularly impressive, but it will be here. If you want me to write a bit a certain topic, feel free to leave a comment! See you next Tuesday.
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
So I saw a thing on Tumblr today...
So I was doing my normal thing, derping on the computer, when I saw a cartoon called "Can We Stop Worrying About Millennials Yet?". In it, Matt Bors discussed the latest generational bias toward those who are about twenty now, like myself. I never really thought about it before, but most people, including several millennials themselves, seem to accept this few of young people. "Kids today are lazy and expect things to be handed to them. All they do is sit on the computer or stare at their phones! They don't interact face to face. They don't have jobs and they just mooch off their parents. They're all just selfish."
Now to be fair, I do know people my age who are like that. But then I also know people much older than me who are like that as well. And I know people of both age groups who are nothing like that. So I don't think its an age thing. But it seems so widely accepted, that kids today are like this. Sometimes my own parents seem to think that this is true. Not about me, usually, but about other kids. Funny how its always the other kids who seem to have the issues. Even I'm guilty of scrolling through my Facebook friends and thinking that my own generation is just a group of vapid teenagers who are stuck in some strange version of a Peter Pan complex.
But then I thought about it. We live in a age where sharing practically every aspect of our lives, from our activities to our daily thoughts, is not only accepted but basically expected of us. It would be weird not to have a Facebook and a Twitter and a Tumblr and a Pinterest account. That's how we communicate, through written messages. That's just how it is. I can keep up with friends who go to a different school than I do. I can share my passions and discuss them with like-minded people. I can discover things I never new. I still talk face to face, verbal communication is not dying, but I find that I like more person ways of talking to people. I talk face to face or I Skype, but I almost never just call someone. In fact, I hate the phone. I feel like I sound so stupid over it and I can't always hear and understand what the person on the other side is saying. When I have to speak business with someone, I almost always use email. It's so much more convenient. When I want to talk to family or friends, I text or send a FB message.
I also thought about the whole kids are lazy, and I think that that is completely unfair for one big reason: the economy. Young people aren't all that lazy, we just can't find a job, or the job we have we're paid so little and given so few hours that we can't afford to be financially independent from our parents. We've been endowed with debt. In order to get a job, you have to go to college. There is really no question about it. You have to go to college if you want a job. And, trust me I know, college is expensive. Really expensive. Not just tuition and dorms, but also books, class fees, supplies, food, and then maybe getting to do something other than going to class and staring at your walls. None of that stuff is cheap. Before I left for college, my parents told me about some the things they got to do in college. Many of those things I will probably never get to do because I can't afford to go out and do those things. And to make it even worse is to try and find a job. I came home for the summer and the first thing I did was to try and find a summer job. I went from business to business trying to find something, anything. The only thing I found was that no one wanted to hire someone for the summer. Everyone was looking for someone wasn't going anywhere. Let me tell you, Hardee's and Family Video is looking for someone who is going to be stuck at that job for a very long time, not someone, like me, who is planning on going somewhere in their lives. I managed to find a job, and I worked myself to death over it. I nearly ruined my health trying to hold on to that job. And despite all that, despite how hard I tried, I still lost that job. They're looking for someone who is never going to leave this small town to fill that job now. I worked beyond my physical limits everyday at that job; would you call that lazy?
So that basically covers it. My generation is online all the time because thats how we connect with others, we are stuck financially because we can't get jobs or we're underemployed and we're trapped beneath huge amounts of debt in order to maybe be able to dig ourselves out of this giant hole we've been dropped in. So do you think we can catch a little slack?
If you want to read that comic, which I would recommend, you can find it here: http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/09/opinion/bors-millenial-comic-strip/index.html?hpt=op_t1
Happy days to you and yours.
Beth.
Now to be fair, I do know people my age who are like that. But then I also know people much older than me who are like that as well. And I know people of both age groups who are nothing like that. So I don't think its an age thing. But it seems so widely accepted, that kids today are like this. Sometimes my own parents seem to think that this is true. Not about me, usually, but about other kids. Funny how its always the other kids who seem to have the issues. Even I'm guilty of scrolling through my Facebook friends and thinking that my own generation is just a group of vapid teenagers who are stuck in some strange version of a Peter Pan complex.
But then I thought about it. We live in a age where sharing practically every aspect of our lives, from our activities to our daily thoughts, is not only accepted but basically expected of us. It would be weird not to have a Facebook and a Twitter and a Tumblr and a Pinterest account. That's how we communicate, through written messages. That's just how it is. I can keep up with friends who go to a different school than I do. I can share my passions and discuss them with like-minded people. I can discover things I never new. I still talk face to face, verbal communication is not dying, but I find that I like more person ways of talking to people. I talk face to face or I Skype, but I almost never just call someone. In fact, I hate the phone. I feel like I sound so stupid over it and I can't always hear and understand what the person on the other side is saying. When I have to speak business with someone, I almost always use email. It's so much more convenient. When I want to talk to family or friends, I text or send a FB message.
I also thought about the whole kids are lazy, and I think that that is completely unfair for one big reason: the economy. Young people aren't all that lazy, we just can't find a job, or the job we have we're paid so little and given so few hours that we can't afford to be financially independent from our parents. We've been endowed with debt. In order to get a job, you have to go to college. There is really no question about it. You have to go to college if you want a job. And, trust me I know, college is expensive. Really expensive. Not just tuition and dorms, but also books, class fees, supplies, food, and then maybe getting to do something other than going to class and staring at your walls. None of that stuff is cheap. Before I left for college, my parents told me about some the things they got to do in college. Many of those things I will probably never get to do because I can't afford to go out and do those things. And to make it even worse is to try and find a job. I came home for the summer and the first thing I did was to try and find a summer job. I went from business to business trying to find something, anything. The only thing I found was that no one wanted to hire someone for the summer. Everyone was looking for someone wasn't going anywhere. Let me tell you, Hardee's and Family Video is looking for someone who is going to be stuck at that job for a very long time, not someone, like me, who is planning on going somewhere in their lives. I managed to find a job, and I worked myself to death over it. I nearly ruined my health trying to hold on to that job. And despite all that, despite how hard I tried, I still lost that job. They're looking for someone who is never going to leave this small town to fill that job now. I worked beyond my physical limits everyday at that job; would you call that lazy?
So that basically covers it. My generation is online all the time because thats how we connect with others, we are stuck financially because we can't get jobs or we're underemployed and we're trapped beneath huge amounts of debt in order to maybe be able to dig ourselves out of this giant hole we've been dropped in. So do you think we can catch a little slack?
If you want to read that comic, which I would recommend, you can find it here: http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/09/opinion/bors-millenial-comic-strip/index.html?hpt=op_t1
Happy days to you and yours.
Beth.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Umm... Who am I?
Hi guys! If you don't already know, my name is Beth. I'm a student at IU. And... I'm not sure what else I am. Sure there are things that I am, like a daughter and a sister, a singer and an actor. But when people ask who I am, I've always said a student. I expect after I finish school and start my career, I'll say that I'm an anthropologist. But it seems so far away.
When you start school, teachers tell you that school is your job. You are a student like they are a teacher. And this goes on for twelve years: at your core, you are a student. And then you reach my age where you could very well have started your career instead of going on to college, and people start asking who you are. We live in a world where your job is your identity. So my answer to them is "I'm a student".
Imagining myself as anything else seems so strange. It feels almost like imagining myself as a different person. I've still got a lot of schooling to go. But I've realized something. As an anthropologist, I want to discover and learn new things. So maybe even after I've "grown up" and can no longer call myself a student, in a sense, I will always be one anyway.
Best wishes.
:D
When you start school, teachers tell you that school is your job. You are a student like they are a teacher. And this goes on for twelve years: at your core, you are a student. And then you reach my age where you could very well have started your career instead of going on to college, and people start asking who you are. We live in a world where your job is your identity. So my answer to them is "I'm a student".
Imagining myself as anything else seems so strange. It feels almost like imagining myself as a different person. I've still got a lot of schooling to go. But I've realized something. As an anthropologist, I want to discover and learn new things. So maybe even after I've "grown up" and can no longer call myself a student, in a sense, I will always be one anyway.
Best wishes.
:D
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