Millennial Students

When I first began reading this article, it became very clear that I have had conversations regarding the different generations before. I'm not sure that I've ever highlighted much of anything throughout my scholastic years, but this article spoke many truths that I felt were highlight-worthy.

The first point that I highlighted was that members of the Millennial generation, "...Have been socialized by supportive parents to be successful in life." This concept always makes me laugh. I would venture that most of our parents, from an early age, always told us that we can do whatever we want in life. They would tell us that the opportunities are endless, and if we work hard, we can achieve anything. Although that sounds like a great theory, that is not always the reality. As an extreme example, I believe there is no way I could have ever become a professional basketball player. Even though I worked harder than most people on my high school team, there were just certain physical barriers that I could not overcome to be successful beyond high school basketball. In a more realistic setting, most people believe that working hard equates to getting whatever job you want. While working hard definitely increases your chance at success, there are many other variables beyond hard work that will dictate what you do. Later in the article, the author gives us six characteristics of Millennials. The two that help support my idea are that Millennials are protected and sheltered and that Millennials are confident and optimistic about their futures. Parents do very much protect and shelter their children. I find this to be most true in conventionally upper class or rural settings that aren't always exposed to different cultures. By living around one demographic during your childhood, this group of Millennials are even more sheltered from the differences in the world, not only by their parents, but by their limited surroundings. Regarding the confidence in one's future, Millennials often have the false sense of optimism as I mentioned before. I think most Millennials are prone to always having a plan for the future. Even though it might change consistently, there is always a positive plan or idea that they will tell people about. Unfortunately, most of the time these ideas do not come to fruition. When the plan fades out, then they are on to the next plan or idea that sounds feasible at the time but ends up being overly optimistic in reality.

The second point that made me laugh because of previous conversations dealt with the Millennial dependence on technology. First, it was stated that, "...given their access to and use of computers, pagers and cell phones, they have keenly mastered the ability to multitask." My initial thought was, while we might be able to multitask, the more pressing issue is that technology has severely deteriorated our attention span. Between texting, instant messaging, and browsing the internet, we are always going back and forth between activities. Sure enough, two paragraphs later the author mentions how technology has "shortened their collective attention span." Another good point was how the over-reliance on technology has stunted our face-to-face skills. Again, this is so true as most Millennials would rather send an e-mail or text message instead of calling a person or discussing something face-to-face.

The prevailing people of the present may not be those of the future

In class on Wednesday we had a question to answer about what types of people are relevant in today's society. At the time that Mills wrote the Sociological Imagination, it was mentioned that black athletes such as Jim Brown and Bill Russell had become powerful, outspoken leaders in society. Two men that directly came to my mind regarding black athletes speaking out were Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Although their stand against human rights was in 1968 at the Mexico City Summer Olympic games, a thought came to my mind. Smith and Carlos, who are many times now perceived as heroes of the time, were shunned by the Olympic committee at the time of their famous picture on the podium where they raised their fists donned with black gloves to represent black power. Many years passed before their actions were viewed as positive for not only their race, but human rights in general (Smith was an advocate for all human rights. He was part of an organization call the Olympic Project for Human Rights whose aim was to protest racial segregation in the United States and general racism in sports. You can see Smith, Carlos and the silver medalist from Australia, Peter Norman, sporting patches with initials OPHR on them).

When were then answering the questions from Mills about our own society, I felt that an example of Smith and Carlos was relevant. At their famous moment, they were not seen as prevailing citizens. They had taken an unpopular stance that caused much tension. Now, they are viewed as activists for human rights and racial integration in sport, and the connotation of their names has changed from negative to positive as time had passed.

So looking at today's society, we are able to choose who the prevailing people are based on societal perceptions. First, lets look at a person like Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns. For his two MVP seasons, the media seemed to have a love affair with him, making him a positive person of the moment. He was touted as an unathletic NBA player who was able to maximize his potential and make every player around him better. For all intents and purposes, he was the ideal teammate. Now compare him to Kobe Bryant who has become an antagonist to the media and many NBA fans. We hear about how he ran Shaq out of L.A., how he constantly yells at teammates, and how he can only play within the team system for so long before he become selfish. He would not be considered an ideal teammate.

With that, it seems clear that Nash will forever be a hero and Kobe will forever be a villain. I disagree with that notion. If that were the case, it would have been impossible for Tommie Smith and John Carlos to ever be viewed in a positive manner. It took years upon years for their place in history to be solidified, and the same thing will happen for Nash and Kobe. Nash may have a great career and win another MVP award, but maybe he does nothing of cultural relevance that sticks with people 50 years from now. Kobe has had a great playing career but has been overshadowed by some of his deficiencies. However, it is quite possible that the way he acts today and the things he says today will be the way the world functions in 50 years. I am not saying that either of them have done something profound at this point. What I am saying is that it seems almost impossible to tell who are the prevailing people of the time until years have passed. The perceptions of today will most likely not be the perceptions of the future.

Class Introduction

As I stated in class, my name is Steven Wright and I am the assistant sports information director at Ohio Northern University. I recently graduated from ONU in May of 2008 and decided to stay in Ada for two more years while I pursue my master's degree at Bowling Green.

We were asked in class to come up with a statement that would help identify and introduce ourselves. For me, the identifying statement has recently changed. A year ago I was a three-year captain and four-year starter for the Ohio Northern men's club volleyball team. I had great success as part of the team as well as an individual. We were able to win the 2007 National Championship, which was the ultimate achievement in my four years. I was also named to the All-Tournament Team at nationals three seasons, First Team All-Conference all four years and Conference MVP three seasons. At that point in my life I would have used the statement, "I lead, therefore I am." With my current position at ONU, a new statement that I would now use as a self-descriptor is, "I inform, therefore I am." I do not believe that is a statement that I would like to have for the rest of my life, but the job is definitely enjoyable and has some perks. For example, in March I will get to work the first and second rounds of the NCAA March Madness Tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina due to my connections in the sports information world.

Other sport-related job experiences include serving as an assistant coach for the women's volleyball team at ONU in the fall of 2007 as well as being a public relations associate for a Texas Collegiate League baseball team named the Duncanville Deputies in the summer of 2007. Also, throughout my undergraduate work at Ohio Northern, I served as a student worker in the sports information office. That experience helped land my graduate assistant position at Northern.