{"id":359,"date":"2021-03-17T18:09:37","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T18:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/generational-divide.jour342.com\/blog\/?p=359"},"modified":"2021-03-18T03:10:30","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T03:10:30","slug":"who-are-we-a-generational-exposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generational-divide.jour342.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/17\/who-are-we-a-generational-exposition\/","title":{"rendered":"Who are We? A Generational Exposition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Frank Canizares<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I arrived in the United States at age 14. And, while I was absorbing, questioning, and subconsciously building my core values, I developed into an Americanized reflection of my native Cuban culture. Yet, while I assimilated, I never felt that I fully belonged to the corresponding American generation for my age group, affectionately (and sometimes not so fondly) called the Millennials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Chuck Underwood, an American generational expert,  my experience is not uncommon. During a recent presentation to Interactive Journalism students at Southern Adventist University, Underwood said the more of your formative years spent in America, the less you\u2019ll belong to your native generation. The opposite is also true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one of his studies, Underwood states that there are four permanent phases of generational study: The formative years which mold our core values; the generation to which you\u2019re born,  whose characteristics defines its members; the generational values that guide our decisions; and, the pre-generational years when we do not belong to a generation–from K-12. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we go through the  building years of our youth –  keeping and discarding some values- we ask ourselves these questions: Who are we? What do we believe? Finding the answer to these questions will determine how we\u2019ll grow into adulthood and our set of core values. Inevitably, in the process we\u2019ll become a reaction to the older generation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an immigrant who has spent most of my life in the U.S. living in and surrounded by Hispanic culture, I have witnessed the loss of identity among immigrants, especially those who arrived at a young age. The stigma that the immigrant carries when trying to maintain his or her  roots while,  at the same time, engaging in American culture, is a daunting and complicated endeavor, and the results aren\u2019t always predictable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the fundamental values \u200b\u200bof my Cuban generation were lost in translation — a generation without hopes and aspirations where education has no value or meaning because it does not justify an economically stable future. By 1980\u2013which marks my native Cuban generation\u2014the Cubans that had stayed on the island because they sympathized with the government or couldn\u2019t find a way to leave, had realized \u201cThe Revolution\u201d failed. The biggest trademark of that failure was economics. Therefore, many in my cohort realized that education, because of the way the system worked, would not provide a prosperous economic future. They turned away from education and ventured into the black market and underground commerce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not fair to generalize, but a good chunk of that generation chose that route. After immigrating to the United States, my encounter with American culture dissolved the negative values \u200b\u200bthat seemed to define me. Because of the values I\u2019ve adopted from American culture, I now have hopes and aspirations; and, I work towards them. I believe in the outcome of education and the kind of future it promises. I find meaning and purpose in life by nurturing my self-esteem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, I\u2019ve managed to rescue some of the positive values of my native generation \u200b\u200bbecause they align well with the values of my American cohort.\u00a0 Like so many Millennials, I maintain a close relationship with my parents, remain active in the community and find meaning in contributing to society. At the same time, some values that define the Millennials, such as patriotism, activism and citizenship, clash with the extremes that were forced upon me while growing up under a dictatorship communistic regime. The impact of those negative experiences has prevented me from fully assimilating to American culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why it\u2019s not always helpful to define people by their peer groups. The core values defining a particular generation should not be a reason to typecast. Everyone is an individual, and the core values that we develop are defined by various experiences. I am a living example of one who does not fit the stereotype.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Frank Canizares I arrived in the United States at age 14. And, while I was absorbing, questioning, and subconsciously building my core values, I developed into an Americanized reflection of my native Cuban culture. Yet, while I assimilated, I never felt that I fully belonged to the corresponding American generation for my age group, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Who are We? A Generational Exposition”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/generational-divide.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/generational-divide.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/generational-divide.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generational-divide.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generational-divide.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/generational-divide.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":396,"href":"https:\/\/generational-divide.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions\/396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/generational-divide.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generational-divide.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generational-divide.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}