Millennials Stereotypes

As a millennial, I am aware that there are many negative stereotypes about this generation. I am very bothered by these stereotypes, as they affect potential employer’s views of myself and others in my generation. I hate the thought of being denied a job based on a stereotype. Though millennials are portrayed as unmotivated slackers by members of other generations, they are not “lazy”. On the contrary, millennials are driven individuals who often work harder than those of past generations did at their age.
But what exactly does it mean to be lazy? Laziness can be many things, but most commonly it means a lack of drive or ambition, and an unwillingness to work. Lazy individuals may set goals, but they do not take the actions necessary to reach
Many millennials are involved in other activities as well. A lot of millennials play sports through a school or rec team. Though many believe that millennials are disengaged when it comes to politics, anyone who goes to college knows this could not be further from the truth, especially for the upcoming election. Students can join political clubs such as the young republicans or democrats on most campuses, chalk messages and bumper stickers supporting candidates can be seen everywhere, and students debate political points on school Facebook pages. Millennials are anything but disengaged. Millennials also campaign for issues that are important to them such as climate change, lower education costs, and the ethical treatment of animals. The majority of millennials also volunteer in some way. The 2015 Millennial Impact Report stated that seventy percent of millennials spent at least one hour volunteering and over 30 percent volunteered eleven or more hours (Schulte). Some even used time off from work (Paid and unpaid) to do volunteer work. Lazy individuals don’t freely give their time and effort to help others. Since millennials do so, it is evident they are not
Take Mark Zuckerberg, for example. The name is familiar to most, as he created the ever-growing network, Facebook. Some may argue that it did not take that much work to simply make a website. While it is true that it does not take very much physical labor, it does take intelligence and time. Eric Butler is a security expert who, at 26, already owns his own business and continues to make advances in security software. AJ Forsyth started a business known as iCracked to repair cell phones, which has now done over ten million dollars in business. None of these millennials would be successful if they were lazy. They took their time and effort to sit down and create businesses, and work to make them prosper. Of course, three people do not represent the work ethic of an entire generation, but neither does a