Why Millennials Are Our Own Role Models

I feel blessed to be alive right now, in this very time, at these very moments. As a Millennial I hear all the noise and criticisms of how we are overly ambitious for wanting too much or dreaming too big. But to these critics I ask how can you blame us? You see, Millennials are in the rare position of not having to tilt our heads to look up at our role models, but merely look right beside us, or across from us, or open our laptops and click through our social media accounts and read about all of the world changing accomplishments of a generation of men and women who look, think, act, believe in the same things we do. Whether the previous generations are ready to accept this reality or not, truth is we Millennials are our own inspiration, our own motivators, our own role models.

I don’t even have to leave my own city to recognize the impact of individuals from our generation. I can tell you about Tara Muldoon who brought The FU Project to Toronto which has touched so many souls by bringing people together around the common valve of forgiveness and how during the past year, The FU Project received its first round of major funding to continue its mission. I can tell you about fellow Torontonian and best selling author Pauleanna Reid whose “Everything I Couldn’t Tell My Mother” book has infiltrated families and been recognized and  praised by media, readers, and critics from all over the world for its brutal honesty and painfully thoughtful insight.

But here’s the beautiful thing about being a Millennial today; I still don’t have to leave my city to tell you about California native Chelsea Krost who is in the midst of building a Millennial empire and motivates me every single day with her confidence, consistency. and expertise in everything our generation has to offer. I can watch the news and be inspired by Malala Yousafzai who took the Talibans best shot and turned that trauma into a movement for women’s education and rose to become the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. I admire writers like Khaled Hosseini but am captivated by the success of fellow Millennial Veronica Roth and her Divergent book trilogy now turned blockbuster movie franchise.

These are all examples of not my predecessors, but my colleagues, cohorts, gifted individuals in this generation doing amazing things for which I only need to look parallel to recognize their achievements. We live in a time where we are so connected not just digitally, but spiritually, intellectually, ideologically, and culturally. We Millennials look across at our peers and ask how can I be a part of this? How can I impact my community, how can I help my country, how can I touch the world?

This attitude of putting the camera on ourselves is what confuses past generations and causes some of the tension towards Millennials. Being labelled as a generation that expects too much too soon is driven by our global connectivity in admiring the achievements of our counterparts from all over the world and wanting to make our own contributions. And yes, maybe we can be stuck in our own minds with lofty aspirations of change, but it is that passion that has defined our generation and created much of the change we are seeing in the world today.

So excuse us for not having our heads tilted up when referencing our inspirations. We will keep our eyes straight on our united mission to carve our legacy.

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