by Elan Waite

We get a bad rep. Our generation, the millennials, is called selfish and self-absorbed on a day-to-day basis.

When you look at what is trending on social media, you do not see selfies and pictures of Starbucks cups; you see a side of our humanity that gets ignored amongst the negative stereotype that is being portrayed.

There is a running hash tag, #encourageeveryonein4words.When you look it up on twitter you see an array of people all over the world sharing witty sayings and inspiring pictures. You see a generation working together to block out all of the undesirable thoughts and bring in some light and positivity.

Before this, the ALS ice bucket challenge started spreading like wildfire among the stars and made its way to people of all ages. We shared, re-tweeted, liked and made our own in an attempt to get the movement out to the masses. The movement raised over 100 million dollars. Let’s see the baby boomers do that.

On our very own campus, we see organizations run by students start programs that will have a lasting impact. Distinguished Women of Excellence and Collegiate Men of VSU are two fairly new, well-known organizations that started in Valdosta and have been making great strides with their community service efforts. They’re a group of millennials that have started their own roots and in a few years have done great things.

We are in no way, shape or form the best we can be yet. We are still young and wild at heart. We share cat videos and rant in 140 characters or fewer, but you can’t count us out on compassion.