It's easy to see why some consider Generation Y to be a generation of lazy, entitled narcissists. We expect a lot, and feel we deserve even more.
This sense of entitlement does not arise from arrogance or apathy. It arises because young people need to believe they're worth something since the world -- one where economic instability has led to fewer opportunities, the devaluation of college degrees, and stagnant wages -- tells them they're not.
An increasing number of us, however, are shedding the role of victim and adopting the role of innovator, challenger, and champion, demonstrating that not all twenty-somethings are lazy and entitled. At the risk of sounding narcissistic, I'll use my own endeavors as an example.
In the last four years, I've helped start a consulting company that helps businesses manage technological change, a social media startup that wants to transform live concerts into participatory experiences, a solar energy advocacy organization, and a non-profit that helps millennials become more civically engaged and economically proactive. I accomplished all these things while attending graduate school full-time, which I partially paid for with profits I made trading stocks and options -- skills that I taught myself while in college.
An ever-increasing number of us are taking it upon ourselves to become the innovators and entrepreneurs that will create tomorrow's jobs and solve tomorrow's problems.
