Gen Y Gives Thanks: The Origins

November 1, 9:38 AMGeneration Y ExaminerSharalyn Hartwell

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The series, "Gen Y Gives Thanks" kicks off today.
(Photo: Photoxpress.com)

Today marks the first of the “Gen Y Gives Thanks” series.  I first introduced this series about two weeks ago, explaining there is a very common, and negative, stereotype—Gen Y is ungrateful. That is not categorically true.

I consider myself fortunate to have a somewhat unique perspective about Generation Y. My birth date falls within the appropriate time bracket, but I’m one of the oldest members of Gen Y. I got a substantial jumpstart on my career at age 18 and am the youngest in my family; consequently, I’ve always been around Gen X’rs and Boomers. Yet, I am often thrust in many social situations where I’m surrounded by younger members of Gen Y.

As such, I see both sides.

Like every journalist, I do a lot of research to cover my beat. Over the past few months as the National Gen Y Examiner, I've been amazed at the sheer number of studies and "experts" proclaiming Gen Y an ungrateful and entitled generation.

While there is obviously some truth to support these claims, (I even sadly see attitudes that correlate with the stereotype in people I know, which frankly drives me nuts)  there is also a substantial amount of truth to refute them, (which I also see in people I know and makes me proud of my generation). I wanted to prove these experts wrong, but how could I refute all these experts with just my opinion and observations?

To be perfectly honest, the idea for Gen Y Gives Thanks didn’t really start with me. One beautiful day in October, I was chatting with fellow Coloradoan, Grace Boyle, 23, at a cozy little coffee shop in Boulder about social media networking/marketing tactics (I know, it can't get more Gen Y cliche than that.) She specifically mentioned tremendous success she had experienced by participating in special series offered by other bloggers. She mentioned Samantha Karol’s “Appreciation Revolution” series on her blog, Life is Like a Box of Chocolates, and Matt Cheuvront’s series “The Inconvenience of Change” on his blog, Life Without Pants.

The wheels started turning and I finally thought of a way to refute the Gen Y is ungrateful stereotype.

In the kick-off to her “Appreciation Revolution” Samantha, 24, said, “There is not enough appreciation in our world. We don’t say thank you, give compliments, draw attention to someone’s hard work or tell people how much they mean to us, as much as we should. I believe in the importance of appreciation, and I’ve been on a mission to urge others to appreciate.”

They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, so, I hope Samantha feels flattered.  I’m full-on copying her idea (which in truth had some tie-backs to Matt, 24, and “The Inconvenience of Change,” which is yet another manifestation of how the online community Gen Y has embraced makes our world more connected, rich and amazingly small) and providing an outlet for Gen Y’rs to give thanks. 

You won’t just hear me babbling about Gen Y being grateful, you’ll be able to actually read the thoughts of 20-somethings from all over the United States and Canada every day this month. They are taking the opportunity to not just “be grateful” because it’s nearly Thanksgiving and that’s what we’re supposed to do, but actually “give thanks” and show appreciation through the written word.

Be prepared to be impressed with the depth of humility and genuine gratitude beautifully conveyed in their thoughts about topics such as opportunity, adversity, progress, family and careers. I know I have been.

For more on “Gen Y Gives Thanks”: Click here to read all “Gen Y Gives Thanks” related articles. Join the #GenYGivesThanks conversation on Twitter and check out what the participants in the series are tweeting about with my GenYGivesThanks Twitter list.