The arrival of 2010 was not without its problems. Before the clock hit midnight, I began reflecting on the shaky and tumultuous ride 2009 took us on: high-profile deaths like King of Pop Michael Jackson and writer John Updike, legislation debacles dealing with same-sex marriage and health care reforms, and, unforgettably, the economic meltdown on Wall Street.

Despite the many events that occurred this past year or even the past decade, one thing’s for sure: Our generation has been contested with ethical dilemmas, national security and, more importantly, 2010’s swift entrance.

The question of our generation’s identity still remains. As the sons and daughters of the baby boomers, we have since forged a name for ourselves as the ‘Millennium Generation.’ Dubbed ‘Generation Y’ by anthropologists, we ‘Millennials,’ born between the years 1982 and 2002, grew up on television shows like ‘Saved by the Bell,’ ‘Boy Meets World’ and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’ Britney Spears’ risqué schoolgirl cover of The Rolling Stones boggled our tiny grade-school brains, and Napster was the first time anyone risked trying to download music illegally off the Internet. I know for me, 9/11 was the first time I worried about national security – a frightening reality that we all brush shoulders with time and time again as we travel, read the news or even just go through our day-to-day nuisances.

Jeff Taylor, a 24-year-old media analyst interviewed for a July 2009 New York Times article, comments that ‘Sept. 11 was a moment where our generation took a second to think,’ he said. ‘We grew up quicker because of it.’

‘Gen Y’ has also changed the realms of courting and relationships. Written letters, once stamped and mailed, have been replaced by the product of a totally new dialect spoken through cell phones and text messages. An emoticon may single-handedly determine the outcome of a next date, and the resurgence of social networking sites demonstrate just how much technology has snuck into our daily lives, encumbering us to be attached to the cyberworld, one friend request at a time.

Characteristically, the American melting pot has grown even more. Since Brown vs. Board of Education overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson’s verdict that upheld the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine, we’ve witnessed the election of an African-American president in our lifetime.

‘Rosa sat so Martin could walk; Martin walked so Obama could run; Obama ran so our children could fly,’ was a ubiquitous quote during President Obama’s campaign. Written by a 19-year-old single mother from McKeesport, Pa., the quote was poignant, triumphal and, ultimately, a refreshing outlook from a generation that is often embedded in misconceptions and improbabilities. The so-called ‘Land of Opportunities’ has come a long way, and the melting pot has been mixed and churned.

But still, I wonder how those events really determine the identity of an entire generation. As much as we’d like to believe that we could recreate something mirroring the peace movements or ‘Bob Dylan-s’ of the 1960s, Gen Y has not yet proven itself. The words ‘coddled’ and ‘sense of entitlement’ have been thrown around by our parents’ generation and have me questioning my own skills and abilities as an individual.

Perhaps we don’t need to – maybe we can pride ourselves on being culturally relevant, technology savvy and define ourselves through a new wave of music, political blogging and cultivated ‘world-views.’ Or ultimately, we may be defined through our ideologies and the acknowledgement that we’ve grown to identify ourselves riding on simple messages like hope and progress.

It’s a long shot, but I’m willing to take the gamble.

Angela Hu is a sophomore public relations major. Her columns appear weekly, and she can be reached at ajhu01@syr.edu.

Published on January 18, 2010 at 12:00 pm