Gen Z is Ready for a Fight-and I’m Here for It

On weekend mornings, before everyone else in my house is awake, I like to have my coffee on the porch in silence and let my mind wander. This particular morning, my thoughts drifted back to my college days and some of the things I wish I’d done differently and some of the injustices I faced. 

I went in to college as a business major, although I was never particularly committed to it. I’m a creative, sensitive type who likes to read, write, create and follow butterflies around and shit. I was not built for the hustle culture that was industry in 2006. Journalism was a dying art at the time and A&M didn’t offer an art program, so business it was. 

But the college electives? So many exciting flights of fancy I could follow! My father is a talented carpenter who taught me how to use the power saw to build my own blocks.  My first job as a teenager was remodeling houses alongside my dad. So when I saw Construction Science in that course catalog, I was pumped. I could potentially get a whole MARKETABLE degree in building stuff? Yes, please. 

I thought I was going to get to build stuff in construction science. Imagine my surprise when I walked into a giant amphitheater full of 300 kids. Nary a saw in sight. I absolutely should have known this would be a lecture class, but 19 year old me was incredibly naive and also probably didn’t read the course description. For those that know me, you probably have a hard time seeing me as naive-but I was very much so. My naivete was trained out of me after I got that scholarship to the school of Hard Knocks. But I digress. I looked around the room at the approximately 300 other students in the class-only 3 were girls. While I found that somewhat noteworthy, I was not concerned. 

On that first day, our professor, who I’ll call Methuselah from here on out for reasons that will be obvious shortly, began to introduce the class. It would be entirely lecture based and our grades would be determined only from a series of multiple choice tests over the lecture material. Listening and taking multiple choice tests are two things I struggle mightily with, but I was undeterred. 

Then, THEN Methuselah said something that really caught me off guard. It’s been nearly 20 years, so this wording is an approximation of what was said.

“To the ladies in my class, I know you’re just here to meet guys and I don’t appreciate students who don’t have an academic interest in the subject matter. Feel free to drop this class-you have four more days to do so.”

I was…shocked to say the least. This wasn’t the 1950s-it was 2002. I was sitting in the same room my great-grandmother sat in 75 years earlier, her presence a silent protest to this kind of bigotry. She was the first woman ever to earn a degree from A&M, nearly 40 years before they accepted women into the university-but that’s a story for another day. 

I did not drop the class; I knew I had every right to be there and would succeed despite Methuselah’s protestations. I did not excel in the course-mainly due to the fact that most of the wildly outdated views he espoused in his lectures were diametrically opposite to what was being taught in my business classes. But he had tenure. 

This morning, while I was pondering these long-past events and wishing I’d stood up for myself and my gender back then, my thoughts went to my own high school students. And how they absolutely would not have put up with that shit. 

I thought about one student in particular, Kathryn and what she would have done in that situation. (Not my daughter Katherine, she’s only 6. The only thing she’s standing up against is earlier bedtimes and fewer cupcakes.) I imagined Kathryn hearing what I heard in that lecture hall and standing up immediately to that gross display of overt sexism. Methuselah would not have been able to finish his prejudiced rant before Kathryn would have been on her feet confronting him, fueled by righteous indignation. 

Then I thought of another student I had-the handsome quarterback of our football team. His genetic and athletic gifts could have easily allowed him to breeze through life, only putting in the minimum effort. That was not his approach. He was one of the hardest working and more importantly, kindest, kids I’ve ever known. I remember his inviting one of his classmates to try out for the football team-a classmate who had severe learning disabilities that sometimes made him difficult to understand. When the young man protested and said he couldn’t play sports because of the fact that he lived in a group home, the QB was outraged. 

“Well that’s not right!” He proclaimed angrily. “I’ll talk to Coach. I’m sure we can fight that-it’s totally unfair.”  

Older people often lament that the younger generations are “destroying America” and seem to view those in generations younger than theirs as less worthy. Not me. I’m thrilled to be living in a world that’s being increasingly handed over to Gen Z. 

When I entered the professional world in 2006, hustle culture reigned supreme. Everyone advised us young workers to “show up before everyone else and leave after everyone else.” And we did as we were told. We hustled, we worked and we took it. We worked for the wages that companies felt we deserved-which were often comically low.

I noticed the sea change when Gen Z began to enter the workforce. Holding tight to their self-worth and sense of justice, they demanded more. They wanted better treatment, better wages, better healthcare and more time off. And If corporate America wasn’t going to change, they’d blaze their own trails as creators and online influencers. Inspired by their passion for what’s just, the overworked millennials were keen to join the fight. Insofar as I can tell, the world of work has improved dramatically over the last decade, and I believe we largely have Gen Z to thank for that.

I credit Gen Z with driving the MeToo movement that ousted many industry leaders who’d been abusing their power for decades. They advocate for social justice on behalf of all, regardless of whether they personally belong to the groups in question. They’re fighting for our environment and embracing sustainable lifestyles.

I believe we live in a better world because of Gen Z, a world that’s getting better still because of how hard they’re fighting.