We are an entitled generation.
If any other Ole Miss student dares disagree with me, I need only point toward the Land Rovers and Mercedes-Benz convertibles sitting in dorm parking lots to illustrate my point.
While I recognize that a few freshmen driving cars worth more than the average American household’s annual salary doesn’t exactly prove that our entire generation is similarly spoiled, it certainly provides an interesting talking point with which to begin this column.
Entitlement is not a measure in wealth, but a mindset.
Many of us, myself included, don’t take the time to stop and appreciate just how good we’ve got it. I’m sitting with a cup of Starbucks coffee, typing on my Macbook Pro while listening to NPR on my iPhone 4.
I’m worrying about finishing my senior thesis and applying for jobs instead of fretting about when my next paycheck comes in. Even though I have a part-time job and scholarships to carry me through the semester, I know that my parents wouldn’t hesitate to provide extra financial support if they had to.
Many Americans are not so fortunate.
Every parent wants to give his or her children more than they had growing up. Every parent wants to see his or her son or daughter succeed.
While none of this is a new phenomenon, there is definitely a palpable aura of entitlement that I have felt from my fellow representatives of Generation Y, and others have sensed it as well.
While working at my internships, I have had the opportunity to speak with many seasoned professionals from all walks of life.
One of my favorite questions to ask is this: “What are some of the biggest mistakes that you see college students making in interviews?”
Time and time again, their answers came back to our disproportionate sense of entitlement.
“Instead of telling us why we should hire them,” one of my mentors told me last month, “they demand to know what we will do for them.”
She went on to say that she has never hired someone who went into an interview with a privileged mindset, no matter how qualified he or she was.
As we run between classes and stress about our coursework, we fail to remember that most Americans do not even have the luxury of a college education.
Even though enrollment has increased over the decades, it is still an opportunity that we shouldn’t take for granted.
Nevertheless, many of us still do.
While we shouldn’t have to apologize for how our parents raised us or the privileges we enjoy, a little tempered modesty and honest hard work can go a long way in changing the world’s perception of us.
We certainly are not the first entitled generation in history, but it is up to us to make sure that we are not remembered as the worst.
You might want to bear this in mind the next time you go into an interview.
Lexi Thoman is a senior international studies and Spanish double-major from St. Louis, Mo.
