“Your generation is the future.” Over the past few years, I’ve been told these words countless times. My millennial generation is full of social media fanatics, innovators and everything in between and we are being looked at to make big changes and lead the way. The world tells us we have everything we could ever need to be successful at our fingertips, but then it tell us we can’t do it without a college degree.
Growing up in my middle class family household, getting a college degree was never an option, but expected of me. After I graduated high school, I set off to pave my own way in the world of naïve, directionless young adults who think we have it figured out.
Four years later, I sit here about ready to walk across the stage and receive my degree within the next few months. I’ve accumulated a double major in Public Relation and Advertising, a few internships and what seems like an endless amount of students loans with no promise of a career. With the average four-year graduate accumulating $26,000 to $29,000 in student loans and 37 million owe more than $1 trillion in student debt, something has to change.
So how are we supposed to be the “future” if we can’t even acquire an entry-level position in this economy? And then, come six months from now, have the burden of thousands of dollars looming over our heads? I started to look for answers. I needed to begin looking at the bigger picture and focusing on the people that can change it, if I couldn’t. That’s where Lenda Sherrell comes in. Lenda Sherrell, the Democratic party candidate running for Congress in Tennessee's 4th District, can be the voice not only for me, but what many people have been looking for for a long time. Sherrell is focused on bringing Tennessee values to Washington. She believes in quality education, helping college students graduate without excessive student loan debt and equal opportunities for women. Lenda listens to the people of Tennessee and truly wants what is best for this nation.
So many people go through life with blinders on, and only focus on the next step in front of them. They can focus on what benefits them at the moment, not how the decisions we make today and things we devote our time to now can shape our future and make a world of difference later.
For the struggles my generation is about to face in this hurting economy, this is the only way to “be the future” the world keeps telling us we are, by investing in ideas that matter. Investing time into people who can be our voice when we are not able to. I choose to have a voice in this upcoming election and vote for the candidate who will be an asset to my future and the life I want for myself, now and later. A vote for Lenda Sherrell would be just that. A vote for Lenda is a step in the right direction for our economy, our future, and our lives.
Hannah Lethbridge