When I was 11, I received something my grandmother never would have imagined holding as a little girl – my own iPod mini. I felt like I had the world in my hands. No more clinging to a case full of CDs on the bus. Any song I wanted could fit into the front pocket of my jeans. When I was a teenager, I received my first iPhone.
In high school, my Algebra class, full of tweeting, chatting 16-year-olds, was abruptly silenced one day when our teacher told us that our generation would never know the value of hard work and life without technology.
Well, we are coming. Millennials (those now between the ages of 18 and 34) are predicted to take over the Baby Boomers as the largest generation in the nation this year. At 75.3 million strong, we are the largest generation in the workforce. We are set to be the most educated generation in history. The majority of us favor same-sex marriage. We are the most diverse generation with only 56 percent of the population being white. There’s no doubt about it: the huge generation gap left by the Baby Boomers means we are changing the way Americans work, live, and think.
In our newest Ball Bearings print issue, I invite you to learn more about how Millennials are changing America. Our cover story explores the impact our generation is about to make on all aspects of life across the nation. Twice as likely to identify as LGBT, Millennials deal with finding public acceptance and their own identity more than previous generations did. (“A Shift in Support”). Most Millennial parents are intentionally raising their children differently than the way they were raised (“It Takes a Village”). The Millennial vote will gain importance as the 2016 election approaches (“The Voice Behind the Vote”). American Muslim continue to feel prejudice in the United States from older generations (“American-Muslim Divide”).
We’ve created a conversation online about what it means to be a Millennial. We are leaving traditional religion in mass numbers. We are getting married later than our parents. We are grappling with what it means to be a “digital native.”
This is a conversation about the largest generation in history. There’s no avoiding it: Millennials are taking over. Our aim with this issue of Ball Bearings is to tell you why that matters.
We are coming. And we are poised to change America.
