Ode to Generation Y

A 2004 Graduation
Written April 2004


It seems like only yesterday we were watching "Saved by the Bell" and feeding our Giga Pets. Alright, I'll admit it, it was only yesterday that I caught up with Zack and the gang, but my Giga has long been in electronic pet heaven. So I've come to the conclusion that it's time to hang up our Ked high top sneakers for good and put on some more durable shoes - hopefully slightly more fashionable - so that we can march off into the real world in style. Maybe we are marching to the beat of Doug Funnie banging on his trashcan, heading off to particular place - one that can be seen on even the foggiest of days, or maybe we are walking - or crawling - Tommy Pickles style to somewhere slightly less defined. But whatever the pace or whatever the destination, we'll get there. We'll all get there whether sprinting or skipping, we will all reach our destinations even if they're not yet clearly labeled on the map. Don't be afraid of the unknown; don't be the kid on "Double Dare" who has to admit to Marc Summers that he is too scared to take the physical challenge. Climb to the top of the Aggro Crag because when Mike O'Malley asks, we should all respond that "yes, we do have it; we do have guts." We all have what it takes to stand up to any adversity and succeed. We're not afraid of hard work, after all, we saw our parents make Jell-o and Rice Krispies Treats in the kitchen, years before the clever packaging. We were the ones who had to beg for Barbie Jeeps, Moon Shoes, and Nintendos - we will take on the challenge even if the chances of success appear grim. Most importantly, no matter where we are or where our journey leads, we will always have each other and our pasts to hold onto. We're the ones who grew up with the Tanner family and we all have a favorite Ninja Turtle and Power Ranger. We remember who collected the most Pogs and who always won the elementary school mile run. We used our first credit cards in Mall Madness and collectively spent more hours setting up Mouse Trap than we ever spent playing it. Most of us know exactly what a "Zack Morris phone" is and what it means to sit in a chair "A.C. Slater style." We know that "sike," "not," and "duh" are the three most useful and perhaps most important words in the English language, and we each know where we stand on the great debate between "The Boxcar Children" and "The Babysitters Club." We know how to skip-it and bop-it, and anyone of us who claims to have never twirled a Ribbon Dancer is lying. We waited for the ice cream truck together and tried to get our way by threatening to not invite someone to our next birthday party. We know that "duck duck goose" can be translated to "MC MC Hammer," and we remember our own British invasion - the one that taught us that "if you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends." And we know that the "M" in MTV used to mean something before the network was taken over by reality television. We are old enough to remember Duck Hunt, the bast game on the best system ever, but we are young enough that our hair was never too big, and cell phones and the internet were around at the time we needed them most. "Lord of the Rings" is our "Star Wars" and much to the avail of many, Halo is the new Duck Hunt of our time. We have come from different places and arrived at this moment by different means but today we sit united as we head off into the future. We are a generation, we are a class, a group, forever. We will remember that we were with each other when we think of September 11th, and we will know that our classmates were next to us when President Bush announced the country's plans for an Iraq war. We look back at these times, but now we must look to the future - we're finally ready to "find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real." We're one step closer to that proverbial place that we keep hearing about; the real world is on the horizon and we're ready to reach it. There are no limits. We're "standing at the edge of tomorrow and it's all up to us how far we go" - just like "Saved by the Bell: The College Years" tells us. On that note, the subject of Zack Morris arises once again, and it's in his immortal words that I conclude, "we're out of here!"