NO FILTER

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BY RHICK LARS VLADIMER T. ALBAY
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Tuesday, March 21, 2017
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US MILLENNIALS have the bad reputation of being “narcissistic, shallow, and entitled”. Articles christen us the “Me Me Me Generation”, they label us self-centered attention-seekers, and stereotype us as Starbucks-obsessed teenagers inseparable from our phones and social media.

We are notorious for our Selfies, our Hashtags, our Instagram feeds, and our inane Facebook walls.

But you know what’s the biggest problem with us millennials? It’s that rest of the world is severely underestimating our generation.

Read any pseudo-intellectual piece about millennials online and it will tell you that our generation is horrible. They dismiss us as uninvolved and irresponsible, spending our time always half-immersed in the internet – posting vain pictures, raving about the hottest trends, tweeting every trivial thought that comes to mind.

They typecast and cluster us all together as the Selfie Generation, failing to realize that there’s more to us than just the vapid and superficial.

We are not self-centered and arrogant, we simply want our voice to be heard. We say what we want to say, we waste no time to convey our feelings and opinions as honestly as we can on our social media platforms. #TBH, we millennials wear our hearts on our sleeve, or more appropriately on our Facebook walls and Instagram feeds, with #NoFilters whatsoever.

We don’t over-share, we cherish memories. We fill our walls with pictures of #SquadGoals and smiling selfies because we are deeply sentimental and nostalgic. That’s why we take pictures any chance we get – to preserve memories, to capture little happy moments. We love to share our trips and journeys because we want to show our appreciation of life. Millennials see the world through different eyes each day, welcoming every tomorrow as another adventure.

We are not lazy and unfocused, we are creative. Most millennials aspire for more than the usual professional jobs. We aspire to be artists, writers, dancers because we want an outlet for self-expression. We detest the 9 to 5 grind because we feel it stifles us and limits our creativity. We take on hobbies such as typography, caligraphy, or sketching, we dabble in creative writing and poetry, we curate our Instagram feeds as if it were our own personal galleries – all because we want to express how we feel on a day to day basis.

We are not earnest and naive, we are passionate. When we find our true calling, we push for it no brakes, caution to the wind. We want to build something ourselves from the ground up – communities, initiatives, and movements. In all of us is the innate potential to lead and persuade people, to set trends and make a difference. We aim to be Leaders, Influencers, and Movers. We set ambitious goals for ourselves because we sincerely believe we can achieve them with enough hard work.

We are not narcissistic, we just want to leave a mark. Individuality is the virtue we value the most. We want to be unique, to be able to stand out in a crowd, and to establish a personal brand. We constantly want to broaden our horizons and expand our circle of friends. We pursue becoming well-rounded people, both #BookSmart and #StreetSmart, with plenty of interests and ambitions, driven by passion, purpose, and heart. #Puso

We are millennials, call us what you want – the Selfie Generation, “narcissistic and entitled”, the wasted youth. Vastly misunderstood and underestimated, we’re still doing our best to make a difference in this world. We may be young and a little narcissistic, and approach things differently, but we’re doing our best all the same. This is just how we do. (rhickalbay@gmail.com/PN)

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