Hat tip to Susan Cartier Liebel's Build A Solo Practice blog for reference to a 60 Minutes episode on the "millennial" generation. I have to admit, this is the first I've heard of the millennial generation and so the first thing I wanted was a straight-forward definition. But that wasn't so easy to come by. I found that the period of birth for the millennial generation varied depending on the source: 1977 to 1995, 1977 to 1998, 1980 to 2000. Even though there seems to be some uncertainty about the birth date of those in the millennial generation, one thing is strikingly obvious - the 18 to 20 year age range! I find this to be too large of a range, just based on my experiences in the workplace.
Moving on to what in the world is the millennial generation, it gets even worse! There are several great video clips from the 60 Minutes episode. As I watched them, I was reminded of a woman I interviewed a few months ago. She was approximately 24 years old, which puts her in the millennial generation. She had been in the waiting room for about 5 minutes and when I went to get her, she was on her cell phone. As if that wasn't bad enough, she continued her conversation as we walked down the hallway into my office. When she sat down, she half-heartedly apologized for being on the phone and then asked if phone calls during work hours were a problem! Mind you, we hadn't even began the interview! I restrained myself and didn't send her packing right then and there but I knew then that I wasn't interested in her. At the end of the interview, I asked if she had any questions for me and she asked how much longer the interview was going to take because she had dinner plans! There is a great part of the 60 Minutes clip with a similar situation between a judge and a "young lawyer".
I'm 26 and I'm constantly appalled at the work ethic of those just slightly younger than myself. Perhaps it's because they don't see themselves as adult. Jeffrey Zaslow of Wall Street Journal references in one of the video clips a survey which states that most young adults feel that "adulthood" starts at the age of 26. At 26, I've owned a home for 5 years and provided for all of my basic necessities that go along with independence. To hear that people believe this is the age where adulthood starts is just bewildering.
I've worried in the past about what my classmates in law school will be like. I consider myself a non-traditional student (see my profile for a very brief synopsis). I have visions of being (on the verge on 30 years old) surrounded by 22-23 year olds who've never worked, are more concerned updating their facebook page than understanding the felony murder rule and are just generally immature. I worry that this generation, whatever the birth dates may be, will take for granted the opportunity of law school. Selfishly, I also worry that the school will be devoid of in-depth discussion... but I suppose I should save these concerns for another day.
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3 comments:
Hi Sara,
I am so impressed with your work ethic and commitment to your goals. We live in a fast food society..."I want it now." Nothing is appreciated and valued more than that which we earn ourselves. You should be very, very, very proud of your accomplishments. You will be doing great things in your life. And any future law school will be proud to accept you as one of their promising new students.
Susan Cartier Liebel
"You were born an original; don't die a copy." John Mason
Build A Solo Practice, LLC
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Sara,
I consider myself an even less traditional law student than you. I'll be graduating in May at the age of 40.
Schools vary in their diversity. Some of the schools I visited before applying to law school seemed to be populated almost exclusively by students who were in their mid-20s and on the traditional high school -> college -> law school path.
Santa Clara has a fair range of age diversity. One of my classmates is a medical doctor, and I believe he is in his early 70s. That said, the majority of students are still on the traditional path. It makes for an interesting mixture.
The Friday before last I heard an interesting conversation between several students who'd been out partying the night before. As you might imagine, it didn't inspire faith in these young soon-to-be-lawyers. They didn't appear to have had any real responsibilities at all prior to law school.
However, I have several friends at school who are in their early or mid-20s. These students are hard-working, sensitive to their surroundings, and very self-possessed.
I'm also reminded of a book I read back in the early 1990s. It's called "Generations" and although it's now likely out of print, it's worth reading. Two researchers named Strauss and Howe analyzed the history of America from generation to generation. They found four generational "types" and defined the characteristics of these typse.
As a young Generation Xer and freshly-minted Army officer, I found the book a welcome balm. For years I'd been reading about my vapid, unmotivated, and generally hopeless generation. As it turns out, generation-bashing has been going on since the first colonists showed up on American shores.
So revel in your own accomplishments, and know that before too long the rest of your generation will get noticed in more positive terms, either because they're growing up, or because the media will start looking at them in a different way. You'll start reading articles in the mainstream media about the amazing contributions Millennials are making to American society, from starting new nonprofit organizations to providing the backbone of the American military to building impressive new businesses.
In the mean time, law school will likely not contain as many in-depth discussions as you'd like. My experience has been that most students, particularly the younger ones, see law school as a trade school primarily, and as an opportunity to expand themselves intellectual only secondarily. But I haven't encountered many law students who don't work their butts off to master the material.
One more thing, then I'll end this absurdly lengthy comment. Thanks for the link to Mac Law Students!
Erik Schmidt
Sarah, the one thing that surprised me at school was not the immaturity of the students, but the insight and maturity of many of them. Keeping an open mind was a challenge, but it has brought me great rewards.
I was also surprised to find that I needed to start a facebook profile of my own, just to ensure that I wasn't a total social pariah here. (Keep in mind that law school isn't just learning, it is networking too!)
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