The Cry of the Young

As I spent some quality time with myself last night, gathering my thoughts together and pondering upon my life, I began to realize a problem that is potentially destroying the young people of today. From the day that we are born, we have been completely victimized and manipulated by society and the expectations that have been implanted in our minds. We are constantly told what to do, how to think and how to feel. We have been taught to shield our emotions and to hide our feelings in order to show our strength.

The more I kept trying to understand life and society the more enraged I got, because I began to realize that my worth and my value in society has been immensely undermined. I have become a victim of a society that has set high standards and expectations (that are often not realistic) for people of all ages. We have all been manipulated by this system. We are all victims.

From the day that we have graced the earth with our existence, we have been taught to go to school in order to be educated and above all, to make something of ourselves. We have been taught that a university degree will guide us in our career and help us live the 'American dream'. Society has taught us that we can make change in the world and that with education and determination, we can and will be the future of tomorrow. Therefore, we subconsciously and stupidly assume that at age 25, our life will be like Barbie's dream world; married with a dream job, driving convertible cars, living in a luxurious house with two dogs and children. We are set to believe that by age 25, we will have it all figured out and our futures are assured.

This sounds wonderful and all- except that this is the kind of scenario that would happen to people like Paris Hilton. In the real world, the real harsh world, at age 25, you are clueless as to what you want to do with your life and your life has barely even started.

The job market today has dropped immensely and finding a job is like finding a needle in a hay stack, it's not impossible, but it's incredibly difficult. Why? Because in order to find a job, we need experience, in order to get experience we need a job. It is a never-ending vicious cycle that is controlling the young people of today.

So as we all play the real life game of survivor, we are on a mission to chase our dreams and to keep our ambitions alive by finding a job that will recognize our true potential. However- we start to lose faith in ourselves because of the higher authority that continuously reminds us that we are inexperienced, young, or simply not good enough.

Finding a dream job has become something that you read in fairy tales and novels because reality is a cruel and unkind teacher. At age 25, we are struggling to find jobs and to be happy. For some of us, putting food on the table is easier said than done. As a result, we settle for much less than we deserve in order to survive because life is nothing but a game of survival.

We are humans and though we are young, extremely undervalued and underestimated, we continue to dream, and to be optimistic. We continue to keep our spirits and ambitions alive by having hope, but hope- hope can only get us so far.

How many times have we heard, 'invest in the children of today because they are the future of tomorrow'? But how can we depend on the future of tomorrow when the future of tomorrow are not given a chance today?

So, what do we, the future of tomorrow have to offer?  A lot more than you will ever know, if only we are given a chance to prove it today.