Poor Young Uni Student

So this week I started my last year of my undergraduate degree at uni ... yay!! All of the hardships, sacrifices, stressful all-nighters, tears and self-doubt are finally about to pay off in the form of a piece of paper I can frame and hang on the wall! Oh ... and hopefully a full time job in my chose career field too, although that's not guaranteed in this day and age.

One of my favourite things about university and the lifestyle it provides is the diversity and sacrifices students make to be there. It is truly amazing how tough and determined university students can be. 

Throughout my three years of undergraduate classes I've met so many different people, each with a story and a hardship to tell. I've met people working full time and just scraping through their degree in the hopes that a few tough years will pay of in stability and a career they love. I've met people who work crazy hours (early mornings, late nights, overnights) just so they can work around their unpredictable university timetables (which just to be a pain changes every 11 weeks). I've met people with children to look after who fit their classes around school drops off and pick up. I've met people who had to put their degree on hold so they could work enough to pay the bills, or to deal with a messy breakup. And I've met people who live at home with mum and dad and have never worked a day in their life (hearing these people complain about not having time for assignments really makes your blood boil).

What I'm trying to say ... is that no two uni students are the same! We're a melting pot of diversity in every way shape and form possible. And that's one of the things that I absolutely LOVE about university life and the people I've met and created life long friendships with.

But, with all this diversity comes a level of hardships. Some of us struggle fitting assignments around work, while others struggle getting a crying baby to sleep before finally settling down to their assignment at 2am only to have to get back up again at 5am. Even those students who still live at home and don't work still have their hardships and struggles too.

So all this leads me to a story I wanted to share with you guys. A statement made by my tutor earlier this week.

To set the scene, we're sitting in class working in groups and getting to know the people we're working with (it's amazing how many new faces you can still be seeing four years into your degree!). Anyway, the tutor comes over to our table and starts making small talk with one of the "mature ages students". They bond over the fact that they both have young children. Our tutor then turns to the rest of the tables and says:

"you girls are lucky. The only thing you have to worry about is fitting your assignments into your social lives."

I'm sorry ... what!?

When you talk so lightly about the hardships of your students, you insult us. In your simple statement you've made assumptions about people you're yet to learn anything about! You're also unconsciously telling us our hardships and the complaints we have are an overreaction because our "social lives" aren't that important in the grand scheme of things, and you're inadvertently grouping our working lives with our social lives.

Now more than ever, uni students are struggling to fit their working lives into their studying lives to try and get their degree in a timely manner whilst also not becoming homeless. Society needs to begin to understand that just because millennials and students like to complain, their complaints aren't always unwarranted.

Tell me in the comments below, what's a common assumption that really grinds your gears?

The Millennial Blogger

The Millennial Song

First and foremost, god damn you Micah Tyler*!! Why does your song have to be so damn catchy! Seriously, I can't help but sing along, and then get angry with myself because I'm basically sing-dissing myself!

On a more serious note, I can't help but both agree and disagree with the points Micah makes in his catchy tune.

I mean seriously, man buns. Can we just stop with the man buns. They're terrible, and they don't even suit most of the men you see sporting them!

And don't get me wrong, all those millennials coasting through life without a job and firmly believing they'll make their riches one day, anger me as much as the Gen X sitting next to me. But, they are not the majority of us! So many millennials are working 2, or even 3 jobs, to get themselves through university and to simply pay their rent, bills and put food on their tables. I know a number of millennials working 40 hours a week and struggling through a full time uni load just to make ends meet and try to better their futures.

Do they complain about it? Sure!
Would you complain if you were in their situation? Probably!
So why can't be let them have their sook and move on with our lives!

Next comes the good old "Instagram selfies" argument. We millennials spend WAY too much time on social media and posing for the PERFECT selfie. I mean honestly, generations before us didn't have problems like this with the current "hip, cool technology" that the generation before them weren't privy to/ don't understand ...

And that brings me to my main point with this post. The thing about this video, and other videos, articles, pictures, etc is that it's really nothing new. Prvious generations enjoyed the same lack of understanding and assumptions made by the generations who came before them.

But, for the millennials suffering through the same fate now, these views and assumptions are much more obvious and in our faces. As much as the older generations like to complain about millennials spending too much time on the internet, they too are using this powerful tool to try and bring us down from the pedestals they believe we perceive ourselves to be on.

Anyway, that's enough millennial complaining for one day. I'm late to head down to the coffee shop and order my soy latte and smashed avo brunch!

Tell me in the comments below: What's the most annoying assumption about millennials? Or are we all just entitled brats?


The Millennial Blogger

*You can find Micah Tyler online here: http://www.micahtyler.com/music

The Lazy Millennials Cookie Recipe

Picture this, its a lazy (read: seedy) Sunday afternoon and dying for a snack! Just something small to tide you over until dinner, because, lets face it mum would be mad if you didn't eat her cooking while still living under her roof.

You check the cupboard, but there's nothing but tin food and stale peanuts. You're feeling chocolate chip cookies, so you sigh and decide to bake some.

Now if you're anything like me, you don't really want to spend more than 20 minutes tops baking.

Well, here's an easy peasy, super simple and quick cookie recipe for you!!


* This recipe will make approx. 40 cookies
- halve the recipe if you can't be bothered separating the mixture 40 times/ waiting for 40 cookies to bake!


Here's what you'll need
- 1 cup of softened butter
- 3/4 cup of sugar (I use castor sugar)
- 3/4 cup of packet brown sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla essence
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/4 cups of flour
- 1 tsp of baking soda
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- chocolate chips (the more the better!)




Here's what to do

1. Preheat the over to 200 degrees Celsius.

2. Cream the butter, both sugars and vanilla together (use an electric mixer unless you want to spend an our on this step!).

3. Beat the eggs into the mixture.

4. In a seperate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add this to the butter mixture and beat together (take your time with this step! Trust me, if you add it all at once it'll go everywhere when you turn the mixer on and you'll spend forever cleaning it up!).

5. Stir in the chocolate chips, the more you add, the more chocolatey deliciousness!

6. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a greased or paper lined tray. Don't stress too much about the size, just make sure they're spread out - you don't want to spend time cutting cookies apart!

7. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown.

8. Allow to cool for a few minutes, or until you're just so damn hungry and tired of waiting you don't care anymore!
9. Don't forget to taste test along the way! Seriously, I end up eating half my mixture before the cookies even make it into the over! Oops!!

So there you have it, that's my easy peasy, lazy millennials cookie recipe!

You can add anything else you want to make the cookies super yummy, marshmallows, m&m's, the choices are endless. Just don't spend too much time deciding, you have plenty of doing nothing to get back to you lazy millennial you!

And remember, it doesn't matter what the cookies look like, just what they taste like!

So, tell me, what's your favourite lazy day recipe or go to snack!?

The Millennial Blogger

WELCOME!

Hello! and welcome to my blog!!

If you're reading this, then chances are you're a millennial just like myself. If you're not, don't worry! You're still welcome here. In fact, this blog is here for anyone who is willing to read and listen along. Whether you're feeling my pain when it comes to the rising cost of living, or you simply don't understand why millennials complain so much. Whether this blog will make you laugh, cry or sigh, this blog is for each and every one of you to enjoy!

I always find the introduction to any piece of writing the hardest. So I've been sat here at my kitchen table with my homemade pasta and green tea (complete with hipster tea cup) for over an hour trying to figure out what to write for this post. But hey, at least I haven't left to clean the whole house in procrastination like I would a uni assignment!

I suppose I should probably use this post to explain what this blog will be all about!
This blog will contain my ramblings, frustrations and joys in life as a millennial in our modern society. I'll discuss my diet and sustainability practices, the impact of technology on my life, the constant struggle of choosing between a smashed avo brunch and being able to afford a house, and, of course, how it feels to be an entitled, easily offended snowflake.

So sit back, relax and enjoy as I lay my life out on the web!

The Millennial Blogger