Making a living as a Millennial

Living in a modern society awash in high technology, tremendous changes are happening in our life. The “Old capitalism”, the sort of capitalism brought us great economic success in the United States after WWII, has been transformed into the “New capitalism”. Especially in developed countries, such as the United States, “Old capitalism” only exists as a backgrounded formation. A top down system, which knowledge and control only existed at the top, is no longer the norm. Since distribution of knowledge create greater productively, collaboration in the team has become important in the new capitalism work places. If you think this change of social formation only means the shift from commodities being the central to design being the central, you are most likely to be wrong. Trust me, this change of social formation means more than you think.

What does Millennials mean?

I came aware of the word “Millennials” as I was reading the article “Shape-Shifting Portfolio People”. “Millennials” refer to a generation of children today who have lived their entire lives in the new capitalism. I am one of them. Growing up my parents have always told me, “if you want a bright future, value the education opportunities you have”. I see education as one important tool I have to use in order to be a “winner” in the society, meanwhile, I am aware that skills, experiences are also necessary for success.

As we are the “Millennials” generation, we think and act, from quite early in life, in terms of our “resume”. Nevertheless, school is not only the central but also is not the only site for filling up our resumes. We gain many of our core credentials, skills and experiences outside school at home, in activities, camps and travel. As I can recall, I started volunteering, doing community services to slowly build up my resume.

Making a living as a “Millennials” is never easy. For us, education no longer means only getting a good grades at school, it means building an identity necessary for success.