(Some) Millennial myths debunked

Add to that the many challenges I had, such as enduring the critics that had my life planned out. It wasn’t easy saying that I was going to be a journalist, which for some meant becoming a “starving artist/writer.” It wasn’t any easier seeing that men my age wanted to party and have no commitment (um, better alone than in bad company!). And it was difficult for me to understand that I couldn’t afford to buy a car or live by myself while enrolled in college, even though I worked part-time at a video store. I couldn’t claim my full independence.

It was heartbreaking when I graduated college and found that the only job available was a paid internship at the local newspaper; and I was lucky. I was thrilled because it was my dream job and there were lengthy talks about a full-time position becoming available. My full-time position never happened. My editor at the time let me know what was going on and told me that he could only keep me as an intern, by law, for one more month; the newspaper was having funding problems.

So, I decided to “abandon” my short-lived career, if only for a little while, and work as a part-time customer rep at a bank. I was employed “part-time,” but worked a full 30 hours weekly…without benefits. Now, if you’ve never worked at a call center, let me tell you that it will test the limits of your wits. And while I tend to see the silver lining in everything — like for example, I learned a lot about how the banking institutions work — I knew that being a call-rep wasn’t my true calling. So I kept hunting for another job related to my career.

In an interesting twist of fate, I ended up as a freelance reporter for the same newspaper that I had interned for. And in a weirder turn of fate, I also ended up working as a weekend reporter at a radio station. I was also nicknamed “rookie” by everyone in the local media outlets.

At this point, I was working four jobs, all part-time or freelance, for no benefits and meager pay. And it was exciting and exhausting to be working so much at such a young age. But hey, whatever I could do to further my experience in the journalism field, since that seemed to be the number one requirement for many employers.

Many of my peers and friends that went to my same university to study journalism had similar experiences. They started working in community newspapers or they adapted to related careers like copyediting, public relations and even public administration. Others opted for continuing their studies and went for their master’s degree.

I didn’t become a “full-time reporter/editor/wear-many-hats writer” at the newspaper until three years after I started as a freelancer. By then, I felt like I had to go back to school to become a translator (and I did, on a whim, you might say.)

And I’ll leave my story here… but not before debunking some millennial myths, IMHO:

1. We are hard workers, at least where I come from. Your work represents who you are; it is your “business card.” I’ve known people who would sleep less than four hours a day to be able to pay their bills, eat, afford a car and rent an apartment. 
2. Yes, we had to live with our parents for a long while, but most of us paid the bills too! While I was living with my parents, I used to pay for Internet, electricity or water, or for my own and my family’s food. Or we would take care of the maintenance of the car or house; whatever needed to be fixed, we would help out. It wasn’t like we were freeloaders. Granted, I was able to help out because I had a job.
3. Some of us would have worked anywhere or for free to gain experience and to get a foot in the door, even if that meant postponing buying a car or anything else that was superfluous. We would have loved to have mentors, to learn from the veterans and gurus, but most people were concerned with us taking their jobs.
4. We care about our communities, we care about the environment, we care about the world or at least most of us, even if we didn’t grow up during the hippie movement. We are socially conscious and empathetic. It appalls me that some people think of us as a vapid, selfish and self-absorbed digi-neration. Just because the media calls us that and we take a ton of selfies on our social media profiles, doesn’t mean that one should generalize. Would it be fair if I started calling previous generations the “rock n’ roll rebels” or the “flower power” generations? No. Everyone is different. It never does anyone any good to generalize.
5. The economy and job landscape after we graduated was terrible. And it is still for some people in this country. One shouldn’t compare one’s experiences in these areas to ours.
6. Some of us were lucky to have employers who provided us with 401ks, even if we had to contribute crumbs or use it later to help ourselves or our families financially.
7. We would love to have more financial education and advice from the experts because the Internet is overwhelming. Be honest about your intentions with us and don’t come to us with the salesman persona to sell, sell, sell. Maybe, try an indirect friendly approach and let us know that you are there and you are affordable or at least willing to work with our budgets.
8. Don’t ignore us. We are here, at your doorstep, eager to learn and earger to officially start working on our legacy.