Growing up, I was always in the smart groups.  I wasn’t the smart kid, but I was damn proud of my reading skills.  I attended a Montessori elementary school, and I was in the group of kids reading the more advanced books.  I remember there was few enough of us that we sat at a table rather than in the area where large groups gathered on the floor.  In middle school, I was in a group of four kids in my 6th grade block class that was supposed to read more advanced books.  One of them was The Hobbit, though as far as I remember, I never read it.  Man, those were the days.  My free time was spent reading and writing.  I miss reading like that.

In middle school, as a 6th grader, I also was allowed in the 7+ math class, which was literally an 8th grade math class.  I was so bored in my 6th grade math class.  If I remember correctly, I wasn’t doing so hot close to when I got moved up.  My parents will have to correct me, but I believe their reasoning was I was doing poorly, because of my boredom.

Maybe that’s true and obviously I handled the classes successfully enough to pass with good grades, but there are times where I think I was just…bored.  The way the classes were taught was uninteresting to me.  Once I hit calculus, my “ability” to do math was done.   I just didn’t get it.  In college, I flew by Computational Discrete Math course.  That’s all about following algorithms and patterns; it was a breeze.  Theory of Discrete Math?  Big fail on me.  And I took that f’ing class twice.

A week or so ago, someone tweeted a link to Millennial Marketing on whether or not Gen Y Suffers From Lack of Failure. (Are you sensing a theme here?  Just be glad I made these things separate posts.)

Phase 2 stuck to me.  “Kids that had been initially been praised for their smarts….were easily discouraged.”  Is that me?  This isn’t something I can cookie cutter fit myself into.  (Cue bringing my mother into the discussion as she generally already knows these answers.)

I ran into issues with math, and I gave up figuring it out.  That isn’t something I like.  At some point in my life, I will break down and buy the Head First Algebra book, so I can actually learn Algebra.  (My school system was silly and taught me “integrated math” where I had/have no clue specifically what algebra, geometry, etc were.)  In the mean time, I just don’t think about it.  I pursue what I’m “naturally” good at: programming.

Except there I can’t decide whether I’m moving away at a time I have experienced challenges or if I am exploring a new challenge.  Truthfully, it’s a little of both.  However, in accepting a job, I have accepted the new challenge for a long haul.  To be honest, I am excited about the prospect of focusing on one “challenge” for a longer than three months engagement.

So, verdict still out on whether the points in this article fit me.

Dr. Phil’s most recent show was on the “Me Generation” as the book of the same title refers to my generation.  This was painful, embarrassing, and infuriating to watch.  I have no idea how my parents brainwashed me, but man, am I glad I stress about spending money.

(My mom has no idea how she accomplished this.  My siblings aren’t intense like me about parting with money.  She speculates it was due to where my parents were at financially at a time where I was attuned to the situation.)

The young man and woman Dr. Phil interviewed were spend, spend, spend.  A good chunk of the others spoken to want a job that is some form of “famous”.  My favorite was the woman who wants to have a show about animals, like those on Animal Planet.  During her interview, her point was not clear nor succinct, and her “likes” and “uhms” were to the point of distracting.

I learned of the term “Millennial” within the last year.  The person who introduced it to me, who is not in my generation, warned me it’s something to essentially be on the defensive.

I was thrilled when Dr. Phil pointed out the generation that raised us is responsible for whom we’ve become.  I was yelling at the TV when one mom sympathized with another about giving her 24 year old son, who lives outside the home, rent money from the moment he moved out.  “It’s because, as mothers, we want to help.”  Putting aside the fact I want her to say parents instead of mothers, no.  No, your job isn’t to help.  Your job is to allow your children to experience failure.  Responsibility.  How else will they become capable of living independently when they’ve had no prior experience?

A number of times, after my parents have provided an update on my siblings and I, they have received compliments on how well they have done as parents.  (Though, since my brother is just a freshman in high school, the verdict is still out on him.)  They do a double take at this compliment, because they view raising us as responsible adults is their job as parents.

My parents haven’t left me out in the cold.  Since I do stress about the money thing, I know I can call them when I’m freaking out after running into an emergency.  The difference is my calls aren’t to ask for money.  They are to ask for advice on what my next step should be to handle it on my own.