As a journalism major, I already experience enough criticism from the people around me who are completely convinced that I will never get anywhere in the field. There is not one day that goes by where someone does not make me feel inferior because of my chosen major.
Now, though, I am kind of starting to doubt myself.
It is not exactly because I believe that I lack all of the skills I would need in order to be successful in the field, or that I do not believe I could eventually obtain them. I know I still have time to improve.
What really makes me doubtful about having any kind of fulfilling future is how people tend to view millennials and the news right now.
I do not think that everyone is like this, but many of the people around me get more excited to read a Buzzfeed article about the Kardashians than read an actual news article about the state of our country with so much more substance.
A recent example I have of this is actually something that I heard on the radio a few weeks ago. I was in the car listening to music and other small news segments when the topic was changed to some new Starbucks cup.
That is when I almost lost my mind. A story about a Starbucks cup was actually being discussed on the radio amongst all other news.
Now sure, maybe this particular radio station is aimed at teenagers and young adults, but does that really mean that we should be more aware of a new “unusual” Starbucks cup than the real news? Are we really seen as that kind of generation?
I am not trying to say that we should completely get rid of more entertaining news, or refuse to read it as a break from the real stuff. I think we are all guilty of spending way too much time reading useless article after useless article online instead of doing something productive.
The issue is that we are being fed all of this useless information every single day and we are eating it right up when more important information is right at our fingertips as well.
I am not sure if this is because we are seen as a generation that does not really care about real issues, but it is something that I see all of the time. Our generation is more often than not seen as lazy and entitled.
From the things I have seen through social media, our generation is full of ideas and opinions on issues that are so much more important than a coffee cup.
We are a generation that is so full of passion and strength that we will not allow ourselves to be seen as anything less.
This is what continues to fuel my dream of becoming a journalist. No matter how others may see our generation, I believe that we are going to do great things. I want to be sure that my voice is heard and I want to make sure the truth is heard as well.