STEM'erica

What I can do better than the Baby Boomers and Generation X is use technology.

I can tell any device what I want it to do and it will do it for me. I can do various technological things without the help of an instruction manual.

Millennials have been conditioned for this. We can almost literally use technology in our sleep.

We have been programmed similar to the computers that we use.

What happens now? We make fancy things to use on the computers. We talk to our friends via computers. We track our meals and exercise with the aid of a computer. We just use our computers.

Since I was about 9 years old, I've had computers and calculators shoved in my face. I do not know how to do mathematics without some sort of electronic device. Even if I attempt a math problem in my head, I have to double-check the answer with some computing device.

Technology has made life easier for Millennials.

We've been told to work and study in the field of technology. I have never been told to focus on any other STEM field.

The future of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will utilize computers, but we have missed a few steps. I have yet to figure out why these fields were bypassed in our school upbringing.

I'm afraid. I am afraid that we are focusing heavily on technology without considering the rest of the words abbreviated by S.T.E.M.

I am currently in college studying communications and I do not know a single mathematics or engineering major at my college. I do know one biology major.

You may be wondering why I am writing about the future of STEM, as a student that has opted not to study these fields. I say to you, I am a communications major and I am currently exercising my education.

I have also been conditioned to find something that I enjoy and make a life out of it, because "work shouldn't be stressful."

"You should never have to work a day in your life, if you're doing something that you love."

What?

That's one of the things that the other generations tell us.

My job should never feel like work. Well, again I'm not a mathematics major but, I've never run into a math problem that didn't feel like work. Just a simple calculation feels like a little work. I do have to use my brain for it. I would imagine that if I worked in a math related job, I would have to do work every day to fulfill my duties, because I am using my brain.

If I were studying technology, I would imagine that I would have to work to remember the codes that I would use for programming. It would be fair to say that programming a website, or a game, everyday for the rest of my life would require me to work to perform my job.

If I were some sort of scientist or engineer... Don't get me started.

Statements like the one mentioned above actively discourage young minds. The statement suggests that I am not doing what my life was intended for, if some job gets hard.

That is simply not true.

There is someone out there that has heard this statement and will never cure cancer because the research felt like a lot of work.

The is another person out there that has heard this statement and will never find a universal alternative to fossil fuel depletion for power, because the work was excessive.

Encourage those that are actively pursuing a STEM career and stop telling us this... Our future, as a nation, is dependent upon it.