Our generation has been called a lot of things over the years, and not all of them have been particularly flattering. But I think we can all agree that we are the generation that thrives on technology. They call us the “thumb generation” because we’re always texting or typing, and that’s not really something we can argue with. We are the age of the internet, the cell phone, and the iPad. We are the age of all things digital.

Just think of all the technological developments that there have been since our parents were college seniors. For one thing, if you were a college girl when you mom was a college girl you wouldn’t be reading a blog. You wouldn’t even know what a blog is. You wouldn’t even have cordless phones, never mind a cell phone, AND you’d be using a typewriter to write your final papers. And none of it would have seemed the least bit weird to you. But it seems weird to us. But you know what, all the stuff that we do now may eventually seem outdated to our children some day.

Like what, you say? Why I’m so glad you asked…

I am the perfect product of a 20-something generation.  I am 23 years old, I’ve graduated college, I’m single and I live at home with my parentals (wow, typing it in a sentence just made me realize how pathetic it all sounds).   I’m doing a bit of freelance blogging and slowly looking for jobs (by slowly I mean sifting through jobs that don’t give me a heartbeat and leaving my energy for the ones I truly love).  Living the dream can be a slow and patient process, but I have the drive to let the dreams settle in.  I want to find that perfect job.  I want to do something I love and as long as it’s going to take me – I am willing to let it ride.

And according to a recent New York Times post, that makes me (and the rest of us) lazy and immature.
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I feel like everyday I’m reading stories, such as the one The Huffington Post ran yesterday, that dish out an extra-large helping of negativity aimed at my generation- the Millenials, Gen-Y, the Peter Pan Generation, Generation Next, the Echo Boomers.  We seem to inspire a lot of labels, but sadly not as much confidence from our predecessors.  They say we’re drowning in debt, hopelessly unemployed, cluelessly over-educated…I say f*ck you.

Do I sound bitter?  That’s because I am.  As a recent graduate, I’m experiencing a lot of what my elders are talking about.  Yes, I’m unemployed.  Yes, I’m an intern.  And yes, I will be paying off my student loans for the next thousand years.  But, unlike Mom and Dad, I’m not writing my generation off just yet.  Here’s why:

We’re pretty freakin’ smart. In numbers exponentially greater than previous generations, we’re earning college degrees and seeking even higher education.  Add the fact that we’re tech-savvy and hip to social networking and you might just say our generation revolutionized the way humans interact.  Next time you catch your mom getting her Facebook fix, tell her Mark Zuckerberg was just 20 when he launched the site from his dorm room in 2004.

We’re ballsy. I believe the term “disrespectful” has been tossed around quite a bit in regard to the spawn of the Baby Boomers.  Now, I’m not about to defend Kanye’s stage manners (and lack thereof) or the oft-terrifying rap stylings of Eminem, but I will say that young people today know what they want and aren’t afraid to be outspoken about it.  We engage politicians, confront campus officials, and know how to protest like it was Vietnam all over again. Read More »

Jobless and in debt, grads turn to stripping.

Just another reason Gen Y (that’s us!) is screwed.

Caroline Giuliani: Why do rich people shoplift?

Apparently 911 is not a cab service….

Uh, Brett Favre is a dirty old dude.

A sex ed video game – good or bad idea?

Snooze-fest.

Do you remember the good ol’ days freshman year? Sitting nervously in front of your laptop on a Sunday morning, awaiting the moment your friends would post the infamous pictures from the weekend? Then, it happens. At around noon, after a long breakfast spent reminiscing in the cafeteria Facebook explodes with album after album of weekend adventures. You spend hours laughing at your screen with your roommates: Who is that rando taking shots with us? You did a keg stand this weekend? Oh, so that’s where we got the blow-up doll!

Back in the day, Sunday mornings (or the entire day…) were dedicated to reflecting on the moments captured from the night before via Facebook. I know I used to love those days, when you found out you weren’t the only one running around campus having a good time….er….looking like a hot mess.

But fast forward three years when everyone and their your mother is watching what you decide to post on Facebook. You can’t just post everything you want anymore with reckless abandon; you’ve got your future to think about, and the judgment of your entire extended family (who are all now your FB friends), and the fact that Facebook is changing their privacy settings so often, you have no idea who can see your latest drunken exploits. So you start thinking before you post, de-tagging unflattering (from a professional perspective) photos, and deleting anything remotely inappropriate (“Let’s get crunk tonight!”)  from your Wall. Read More »

This week I was perusing USA Today (trying to find the crossword puzzle) and stumbled upon an article that struck me as, frankly, a bit terrifying. The article screamed HUGE DEBT, NO SAVINGS in my face, warning all of us in “Gen-Y” (that group of seventeen – twenty-somethings) that we’re the only generation unlikely to out-succeed our parents financially. Harrowing stuff, especially since we seem to be in a generation of “buy now, pay later.” And when we do buy,  we want the newest and shiniest and don’t settle for less than designer brands…. Not exactly recession-friendly behavior.

The article had me thinking about my own spending habits and the habits of my peers. I certainly have gotten my act together over the past year but still struggle with the little things. I write checks and forget about them until they hit my account. I have days where I spend ten dollars on Starbucks. And then other days when I spend $20. I went through a period where I didn’t pay off my credit card balance every month (never. again.). We all struggle with the economy and our own personal finances. Here are the top 10 ways to be a savvy spender and super recessionista. Read More »

As a generation of Facebookers, Twitterers, bloggers, BBMers, iPhone-ers, GPS users, and so on and so on, we are often viewed by the older I-went-to-the-library-to-do-research generation as lazy and dependent.  We have the world at our fingertips and we don’t have to use our brains for virtually anything, or so they claim.

Yes, we can access Google at any moment, and no we do not need White Out to correct our papers, but to the contrary, it is our 24/7 connection that makes us anything but lazy when it comes to fighting for what we believe in.

Take for example, the heated debate of gay marriage.  While an older generation calls the shots in Congress, in most states, it is still illegal.  According to a study by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, 65 percent of college freshman surveyed were in favor of gay marriage.  The findings revealed that even a large majority of students classified as far-right were also supporters. Read More »

When asked to choose their top goals, a survey of 18 to 25-year-olds yielded staggering statistics.

81% said: to get rich.

51% said: to be famous.

I don’t know about you guys, but this makes me squirm in my seat just a tad.

Sure, it’s understandable that a large number of people want to have a fat wallet and their face plastered all over newspapers. Actually it’s a little too obvious. Our generation certainly boasts an embarrassingly high number of public figures with absolutely zero talent or reason for being there. Just think about it, some of the most famous celebrities are reality stars who got famous for being normal people on national TV and occasionally throwing in a fist fight, indulging a cocktail binge or going through an incredibly messy divorce to spice things up.

With these figures being glorified by our society, of course there are going to be those who want to follow in their footsteps and get their 15 minutes. But aren’t these numbers a tad bit high? The main goal of 81% of college students is to be rich?! What about being happy? Having a family? Improving the world in some way?

Are we just lazy? Is that why the life of the rich and famous looks so appealing? Or do people actually consider “famous” an appropriate fill in for the blank next to “occupation”? Read More »

Sarah Merion is a “Social Media” pioneer for Gen Y. She has her own website, SarahMerion.com, where she educates on Social Media and challenges people to think about using social media to benefit their business. She has a cult following on Twitter (check her out @SarahMerion) and has even hosted multiple workshops on using Twitter and LinkedIn at her campus at Northeastern and at MIT. Her RoofUp Tweetup was the biggest in Boston and Northeastern approved a grant she wrote to finance her trip to a Social Media conference in Chicago called SOBCon.

On top of all of that, she’s only 21 and still a student at Northeastern, studying Spanish, Management Information Systems and Finance, currently on internship in NYC doing data analysis for a mega media company. Not to mention, she’s sassy, hilarious and can we say: Coolest. Hair. Ever. When I discovered this girl, I knew I had to bag an interview, so I contacted her via YouTube to grab her attention (don’t laugh). It worked and we quickly began collaborating on this interview, on top of a few other projects in the works. Sarah Merion is an inspiration for college girls who want to be entrepreneurs while still in school and proof that maybe, just maybe, the finance world isn’t as screwed as we thought.

5 Questions We Ask Everyone:

1. What is your most ridiculous college memory/most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
Haha, no comment. Definitely did not involve me dancing on a bar. Hoo boy.

2. What are five things you can’t live without?
1. MAC foundation.
2. iPhone! Hello Tweetdeck, I love you.
3. Pink and black Herve bag. I seriously carry it EVERY. WHERE.
4. Hanky Panky underwear
5. Classic cherry chapstick. Wait, no! Friends! The TV show. Oh also, vanilla Yoplait light yogurt. And Kashi GoLean. Kashi GoLean Crunch. Grande non fat cappuccino with one Splenda. Shoot, that’s more than five, isn’t it? Read More »

Sometimes you see/read the craziest things on the internet (two girls, one cup…) that can make you laugh hysterically or get really angry (or – in the case of two girls, one cup – make you hurl).  Today I read something that made me do both.  A blogger on thedailybeast.com scribbled a little article about our generation and the increase in narcissism.  Not only did the article indicate that most of us are narcissistic sluts, but it also said that our “I can do and have anything I want” attitude is preventing us from focusing on close, emotional relationships.

Wait, what?

I don’t know about you… wait, yes I do. We’ve all been force-fed the idea our entire lives that we need to focus on ourselves and build a strong character so we can be independent enough to survive. We’ve been taught since birth that if we want something we need to do whatever we can to get it for ourselves.  How is going after what we want and expecting the best lives for ourselves suddenly narcissistic?! Read More »