Online education, cashless system, globalism, highly liberal,digital natives, connected but lonelier, highly competitive, more creative, more polarized too.
These things have been hinted when I was in school. We have been told about how it would be difficult to find jobs in 2020 and how the world will be in chaos and everything will be in shifting. We learned all of these things in school.
Gen Z according to pew research is someone who born in 1997 and onward. I am the first Gen Z generation according to that, though some would say 1996 is also Gen Z.
Pew Research Center decided a year ago to use 1996 as the last birth year for Millennials for our future work. Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019) is considered a Millennial, and anyone born from 1997 onward is part of a new generation.Defining generations: Where Millennials end and Generation Z begins.
However, I went to school with some Millennials. I would say my school years was made up 40% millennial and 60% gen Z since I went to school earlier than most of my peers.My teachers were all boomers but they slowly adapted to digital natives, my generation. So, my school utilized projectors, power point, prints, e-mail and all of this for class lecture. We even displayed youtube in the class for learning sometimes.
I remember in my highschool, self-learning was emphasized and teacher was only acting as supervisor if the student had questions, if not, they were not needed. I remember that most of my teachers had laptop, so were the students. We were used to study via computer. However, when I got into university, I had to adjust. Some of my peers are 3-2 years older than me. The lectures even refrained the use of Laptop in the classroom. It really was something new. Not to mention, the learning was much more like old ways of teaching. The teacher tells you how to think about a certain topic. However, late in my college years, I experienced what it was like being taught by millennial who was more progressive in their teaching methodology. I like being taught by them. They are also more friendly and open to discussion.
With the current thing happening in our world, I see that how I've been prepared to deal with social distancing, online learning, remote work. It has been a part of my life. Most of Gen Z have their gadget and exposure with internet early in life. We are accustomed to be with just ourselves. We are earn the name The digital natives.
We use products created by boomers and millennial.
Gen z likes to create app with reward based, colorful, minimalist features and minimal landing pages. While millenial, they love creating a product with bloated graphics and features. This don't apply to all but some I observed are like that.
There are all sorts of Gen Z out there. From the woke, highly motivated, to the depressed ones.
If you also notice, there are many Gen Z starting early with entrepreneurship. They do love making money. For me, this couldn't be far from the truth.
During my school year, we were already taught how to make money from small ventures. We were taught to do pitch desk, fund raising for our annual programs and even our prom nights. We were taught to find innovation and sell it. And even now, this is more common in Indonesian education system. However, I am not sure with the western education system.
And with our exposure to the world out there and people's personal life. I can summarize the keywords for gen Z : Money, Honor, Fame and Beauty.
When I went to teach in a remote area, the children were not aiming to work in office job. Their dreams were being rich and famous. Only a few percent dreamed of becoming doctors. Even when I talked to my cousin in high school, he mentioned the same thing. He wanted to be rich through business. And they even have youtube channel hoping they'd be youtube famous one day.
We have friends from all over the world and places. Many of us speak more than one language. Speaking only one language is outdated. We are also generation that is obsessed with beauty and fitness. Sure there are obese out there but my peers are obsessed with living the gym life & work-life balance almost like millennial.
There are some similarities and differences but it's not that apparent. When it comes to social issues, some gen z are following the millennial but some are more conservative. We want to have a house instead avocado toast because our parents are in debt and don't have a house. Some of us want to retire early and pursue something creative instead being a corporate cog. We are also the generation who is exposed to investment early and it's very accessible. There are other differences and similarities but these are something I observed.
I and my school mates have been told life will be hard in 2020. It truly is. We are no longer competing nationally but globally. So that's why, this current world and situation is something we have been prepared from early age.
I still wonder how many Gen Z are using this platform. signing out