Older generations tend to label Millennials as lazy and coddled, or selfish and entitled. Some would even say that we’re afraid of ‘traditional adult milestones’. But they’re wrong, being a Millennial is great, and here is one of the major reasons why: we are changing the shape of the future. Now I know that can be said about any generation, but we truly are. For the first time ever, we are challenging social norms, and fighting with what’s ‘acceptable’ and what’s not. Our generation is more open to love than any other previous generation. We embrace diversity and work well with anyone, regardless of where they grew up or went to school. We embrace love itself in all forms; fighting for the rights of the LGBT community. We’re not afraid to diverge from a path that was laid out for us, but rather we are choosing to create our own.

Born into a time where fertility rates were declining, our generation is getting married later, and having fewer children than our predecessors. Perhaps it’s because we’re thinking more seriously about what it means to start a family, and we’re choosing to do what’s right for us. While other generations might see this as selfish, I see this as better educated. We are more exposed to issues than any other generation before us. We are more aware of sensitive topics such as police brutality, sexism, racism and homophobia. It is this awareness that drives us to campaign for change, demand equal rights and fight for the environment. We are better educated about our health. We have better sex education and are smoking and drinking less than previous generations. Mental health awareness has exploded during our time.

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And all of this means we are taking better care of ourselves, and choosing to do what’s the best fit for us. This also means that our work ethic is different. We’d rather do something that we’re passionate about. Working for the sake of work or money, doesn’t drive us. But when we are passionate about something, we give it our all, producing the best results. We’re a resourceful generation; if something doesn’t exist, trust a Millennial to come up with a solution to make it exist. And as the first global generation that grew up in the internet age, we have the ability to make things happen.