A message from a Millennial:
I started 2016 off by attending a conference in Antwerp, Belgium. This conference was a meeting of almost 200 college students from schools throughout the U.S. and Europe. All the work was done my millennials with minimal oversight from professors. During this conference, we took on the rolls of real European Parliament members and attempted to draft legislation dealing with the refugee crisis and pass it. Though all odds of drafting and passing this legislation were against us, we managed to do so all over the span of four days. I have never been more tired or felt more accomplished.
Though the conference was simply a simulation, it was extremely inspiring and empowering to have such power in our hands. The law was up to us and it was up to us to convince others to come to our side. The week was filled with twelve hour days and many, many coffee breaks. I use the work ‘break’ loosely considering those ‘breaks’ were used to lobby each other. The craziest part of the whole conference was the fact that college students were able to create and pass a law that the actual European Parliament can’t even seem to accomplish.
So often millennials are thought to be apathetic and lazy, but this conference proved just the opposite. There is a feeling of injustice that I think the millennial generation feels. If 200 students from various countries can get together and create and pass laws in just a short four days, imagine the other things we can accomplish if we work together. The future is truly in our hands and it is up to us to do something with it. So, if there is a sense of injustice you are feeling, I highly encourage you to channel that energy into doing something about it. Remaining silent only ever chooses the side of the oppressor. To quote Emma Watson, “If not me, who? If not now, when?”
By Gwen S.
www.TheWomensEmpowermentSeries.org
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