New generation looks for hope amid fear

Nov. 6, 2008

Dear Julie,

Millennials is the sci-fi-sounding label that has been placed on the generation now coming of age. They are being studied and analyzed, and not just by advertisers who covet their dollars. People who do what I do, advise and teach college students, have been trying to figure them out as if they were intergalactic travelers, aliens suddenly making themselves at home on planet Earth.

University of Vermont journalism professor Chris Evans has concluded that the mass killings at Columbine High School and on Sept. 11 are the two most important events in Millennials' lives. Understandably they think of the world as a dangerous place, he says.

Walt Whitman described this inchoate world view in his poem "On the Beach at Night."

"From the beach, the child, holding the hand of her father,

"Those burial-clouds that lower, victorious, soon to devour all,

"Watching, silently weeps."

Their baby-boomer parents also have instilled in Millennials the belief they are special. They have grown up emotionally sheltered and hyperscheduled. Some are performing below grade level but don't realize it because they have been given trophies all their lives just for showing up.

It's common to hear a Millennial on a cell phone leaving class and describing to mom the test she just took. Some Millennials away at college talk to their parents every day.

"Weep not, child,

"Weep not, my darling,

"With these kisses let me remove your tears."

Millennials are technologically connected to each other in ways older generations weren't and aren't. But being grafted to computers has led to "menu-driven thinking," Evans says. They do fine when provided with choices. Creating something from nothing can be a challenge.

Millennials were a crucial number in Barack Obama's election equation. They share many of their parents' values. In Obama, I suspect, Millennials recognized a leader capable of guiding America clear of the darkness that has enveloped us most of the new century. Someone to whom race is not an issue, just as it isn't to them. He is confident, just like they are. He thrives on teamwork, just as they do.

"The ravening clouds shall not long be victorious/They shall not long possess the sky -- shall devour the stars only in apparition: Jupiter shall emerge -- be patient--watch again another night -- the Pleiades shall emerge/They are immortal -- all those stars, both silvery and golden, shall shine out again"

Even before taking office, Obama's intellect and equanimity have restored many people's faith in those who govern. All of us, Millennials and the generations who have preceded them, yearn for leaders who can be believed in.

"The great stars and the little ones shall shine out again -- they endure; The vast immortal suns, and the long-enduring pensive moons, shall again shine."

Love, Sam

Sam Blackwell is a former reporter for the Southeast Missourian.