[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
summer break was finally over and like
every fall semester my classroom was
filled with eager first-year students
excited to start college I walked up to
the front of the room ready to offer
what I thought would be a profound
educational experience for these young
minds class seemed to be going as
planned
attendance done my witty introduction
complete and then on to the syllabus but
what I didn’t know is that I was about
to go down a path that would open my
eyes to a whole new way of thinking it
happened when I was discussing the ten
hours of community service required for
the course now my former students love
to be able to earn credit for
volunteering but this group didn’t seem
as excited it wasn’t their overall lack
of enthusiasm that caught me off guard
it was one question from a student a
clarification question that really
challenged me the student raised her
hand and asked if she could count the
hours that she spends running her
nonprofit organization toward the ten
hours required for the course well I was
a bit taken aback and without having
anything better to say I said of course
and anyone else running a non-profit you
can use those hours two heads nodded at
that moment I realized that these 17 and
18 year olds were already making a
difference in their communities in
larger ways than I ever expected and my
ten hour community service assignment
was likely not going to be the
transformative experience I imagined
these students were craving
opportunities for longer deeper
involvement where they could work
towards creating meaningful change then
it made sense to me I had learned over
the summer that a new group of students
was coming to college that year
generation Z the post millennial
generation well it was obvious they had
arrived and they had their own ideas
about how they wanted to make the world
a better place that was four years ago
and most of those students graduated
this last spring now our colleges high
schools and elementary schools are
filled with seven to 22 year olds all
part of generation Z these young people
are growing up in an incredibly unique
time in history we have driverless cars
personalized medicine and Wars without
borders
most have used tablets and smartphones
nearly their entire lives having spent
countless hours of their teen years
texting and posting and streaming and
surfing and linking and liking and
pinning and poking and tweeting and
blogging and friending and sharing and
they do even more of it as young adults
but Generation Z is far more than a
reflection of their digital behavior
consider this on 911 the oldest one in
kindergarten and most weren’t even born
yet for them growing up in a post-911
world can feel scary and unsafe their
childhoods have also been marked by a
major recession where families lost
homes and parents lost their jobs these
events likely shaped the values and
characteristics of Generation Z as many
tend to be pragmatic and inventive
filled with a great sense of
responsibility and compassion and well
not everyone in generation Z fits this
mold research on this cohort suggests
some key trends about the concerns
motivations and aspirations of many of
them as they enter into young adulthood
so thinking back to my community service
assignment I realized something
significant about this generation many
of those in generations you don’t come
out on their own to participate in
community service not because they don’t
want to contribute but because their way
of contributing is different instead of
volunteering many would rather tackle
the very problems causing the need for
volunteering essentially making
volunteerism unnecessary altogether take
an issue like hunger in their minds
although they know the importance of
volunteering at a food bank many would
rather use their time energy and
resources to work towards creating a
sustainable solution that ensures
everyone has access to enough healthy
food but it isn’t just our system of
volunteerism that doesn’t seem to be
working for them it’s also our political
system when the 2016 presidential
election came around I was hoping that
my socially conscious generation Z
students would flock to the polls but
they didn’t at least not a lot of them
as evidenced by polling data
now you’d traditionally vote at lower
rates than their older counterparts but
with so many in Generation Z who want to
make an impact why didn’t one of them
vote do we not provide enough rides or
polling places on college campuses
surely increasing access is important
but it turns out the issue is much
deeper those in Generation Z are weary
of the whole political system as it
stands many are concerned that
corruption and greed and partisanship
are making it nearly impossible to
address important issues one jens e’er
says it best we can tackle the biggest
problems our society faces if we care
less about how people identify and move
past problems like which bathrooms
should they use and instead focus on
issues like how can we conserve water in
said bathrooms
and if their skepticism of the system
isn’t enough feeling unrepresented by
any political party might just be many
in generations the identify as socially
liberal yet financially moderate to
conservative which doesn’t seem to fit
with either mainstream party or even an
existing third party so while we should
keep motivating them to vote like
volunteerism the cure for their
disengagement is not simply trying to
re-engage them in a system that doesn’t
seem to work for them we need to embrace
these young change agents even when they
challenge the very systems that many of
us have worked so hard to build and
maintain because maybe Generation Z can
do it better making social change the
new volunteerism or to party politics a
thing of the past but what’s interesting
is that not only are they disrupting
these systems at the same time they’re
working right around them finding other
ways to make a difference for one
generation Z embodies a great
entrepreneurial spirit nearly half of
them planned to start their own
businesses in the future but being an
entrepreneur is more than just about
being their own bosses or taking control
of their career paths it’s a way to
leverage their passions to create social
change see a problem create a business
and work towards a solution and they’re
not trying to create the next mega
company many would just like to have a
small business that focuses on an issue
that they care about because for them
making a difference is far more
important than making money
one gens ear says I want to help others
and impact them for the better clearly I
will need to financially support myself
but that’s not why my heart will be in
it like the founder of me and the beaze
lemonade who launched her own company
after entering a children’s business
competition at age 4 but her business is
more than just about selling lemonade by
donating a portion of her profits to
help save the honeybees for her it’s a
way to make a difference and then
consider that nearly 40% of those in
generation Z intend to change the
by developing an invention well that’s
an ambition we can all be inspired by
but like entrepreneurship they’re not
necessarily looking for fame and fortune
they want to design and build new
technologies to address the issues they
care about and solve the world’s complex
problems like a group of high school
students in Australia when they learned
that the price of a critical
anti-malaria drug went from 1350 a pill
to 750 dollars in the u.s. they
recreated the drugs key ingredient at a
much lower cost right in their school
lab and well they’re likely not going to
be able to sell this drug anytime in the
US the inventive spirit of these
teenagers just shows that this isn’t a
generation that’s going to sit back and
wait for others to develop a solution
Generation Z is that rare generation
position at a time when I believe we
need the most challenging our systems
and unexpected ways and despite our
hesitancy and well maybe even fears we
need to embrace their desire for change
and cultivate their passions because
having them do it their way may be
exactly what will save us all
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
summer break was finally over and like
every fall semester my classroom was
filled with eager first-year students
excited to start college I walked up to
the front of the room ready to offer
what I thought would be a profound
educational experience for these young
minds class seemed to be going as
planned
attendance done my witty introduction
complete and then on to the syllabus but
what I didn’t know is that I was about
to go down a path that would open my
eyes to a whole new way of thinking it
happened when I was discussing the ten
hours of community service required for
the course now my former students love
to be able to earn credit for
volunteering but this group didn’t seem
as excited it wasn’t their overall lack
of enthusiasm that caught me off guard
it was one question from a student a
clarification question that really
challenged me the student raised her
hand and asked if she could count the
hours that she spends running her
nonprofit organization toward the ten
hours required for the course well I was
a bit taken aback and without having
anything better to say I said of course
and anyone else running a non-profit you
can use those hours two heads nodded at
that moment I realized that these 17 and
18 year olds were already making a
difference in their communities in
larger ways than I ever expected and my
ten hour community service assignment
was likely not going to be the
transformative experience I imagined
these students were craving
opportunities for longer deeper
involvement where they could work
towards creating meaningful change then
it made sense to me I had learned over
the summer that a new group of students
was coming to college that year
generation Z the post millennial
generation well it was obvious they had
arrived and they had their own ideas
about how they wanted to make the world
a better place that was four years ago
and most of those students graduated
this last spring now our colleges high
schools and elementary schools are
filled with seven to 22 year olds all
part of generation Z these young people
are growing up in an incredibly unique
time in history we have driverless cars
personalized medicine and Wars without
borders
most have used tablets and smartphones
nearly their entire lives having spent
countless hours of their teen years
texting and posting and streaming and
surfing and linking and liking and
pinning and poking and tweeting and
blogging and friending and sharing and
they do even more of it as young adults
but Generation Z is far more than a
reflection of their digital behavior
consider this on 911 the oldest one in
kindergarten and most weren’t even born
yet for them growing up in a post-911
world can feel scary and unsafe their
childhoods have also been marked by a
major recession where families lost
homes and parents lost their jobs these
events likely shaped the values and
characteristics of Generation Z as many
tend to be pragmatic and inventive
filled with a great sense of
responsibility and compassion and well
not everyone in generation Z fits this
mold research on this cohort suggests
some key trends about the concerns
motivations and aspirations of many of
them as they enter into young adulthood
so thinking back to my community service
assignment I realized something
significant about this generation many
of those in generations you don’t come
out on their own to participate in
community service not because they don’t
want to contribute but because their way
of contributing is different instead of
volunteering many would rather tackle
the very problems causing the need for
volunteering essentially making
volunteerism unnecessary altogether take
an issue like hunger in their minds
although they know the importance of
volunteering at a food bank many would
rather use their time energy and
resources to work towards creating a
sustainable solution that ensures
everyone has access to enough healthy
food but it isn’t just our system of
volunteerism that doesn’t seem to be
working for them it’s also our political
system when the 2016 presidential
election came around I was hoping that
my socially conscious generation Z
students would flock to the polls but
they didn’t at least not a lot of them
as evidenced by polling data
now you’d traditionally vote at lower
rates than their older counterparts but
with so many in Generation Z who want to
make an impact why didn’t one of them
vote do we not provide enough rides or
polling places on college campuses
surely increasing access is important
but it turns out the issue is much
deeper those in Generation Z are weary
of the whole political system as it
stands many are concerned that
corruption and greed and partisanship
are making it nearly impossible to
address important issues one jens e’er
says it best we can tackle the biggest
problems our society faces if we care
less about how people identify and move
past problems like which bathrooms
should they use and instead focus on
issues like how can we conserve water in
said bathrooms
and if their skepticism of the system
isn’t enough feeling unrepresented by
any political party might just be many
in generations the identify as socially
liberal yet financially moderate to
conservative which doesn’t seem to fit
with either mainstream party or even an
existing third party so while we should
keep motivating them to vote like
volunteerism the cure for their
disengagement is not simply trying to
re-engage them in a system that doesn’t
seem to work for them we need to embrace
these young change agents even when they
challenge the very systems that many of
us have worked so hard to build and
maintain because maybe Generation Z can
do it better making social change the
new volunteerism or to party politics a
thing of the past but what’s interesting
is that not only are they disrupting
these systems at the same time they’re
working right around them finding other
ways to make a difference for one
generation Z embodies a great
entrepreneurial spirit nearly half of
them planned to start their own
businesses in the future but being an
entrepreneur is more than just about
being their own bosses or taking control
of their career paths it’s a way to
leverage their passions to create social
change see a problem create a business
and work towards a solution and they’re
not trying to create the next mega
company many would just like to have a
small business that focuses on an issue
that they care about because for them
making a difference is far more
important than making money
one gens ear says I want to help others
and impact them for the better clearly I
will need to financially support myself
but that’s not why my heart will be in
it like the founder of me and the beaze
lemonade who launched her own company
after entering a children’s business
competition at age 4 but her business is
more than just about selling lemonade by
donating a portion of her profits to
help save the honeybees for her it’s a
way to make a difference and then
consider that nearly 40% of those in
generation Z intend to change the
by developing an invention well that’s
an ambition we can all be inspired by
but like entrepreneurship they’re not
necessarily looking for fame and fortune
they want to design and build new
technologies to address the issues they
care about and solve the world’s complex
problems like a group of high school
students in Australia when they learned
that the price of a critical
anti-malaria drug went from 1350 a pill
to 750 dollars in the u.s. they
recreated the drugs key ingredient at a
much lower cost right in their school
lab and well they’re likely not going to
be able to sell this drug anytime in the
US the inventive spirit of these
teenagers just shows that this isn’t a
generation that’s going to sit back and
wait for others to develop a solution
Generation Z is that rare generation
position at a time when I believe we
need the most challenging our systems
and unexpected ways and despite our
hesitancy and well maybe even fears we
need to embrace their desire for change
and cultivate their passions because
having them do it their way may be
exactly what will save us all
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
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