instant gratification

someone last night described my generation as one that seeks instant gratification, processes information in small, discrete bites and has a huge aversion to commitment. all this was said in light of her job of helping students at nyu pursue jobs in public interest law. and i think to some extent she was absolutely right. our experience of the world is shaped by instant access to information and google answers, and with the magic of email at our fingertips we are used to getting what we want and getting it promptly.

her argument was that is part of the reason so many students leaving here will likely take firm jobs, because more important than the fact that they will have huge loans to pay back, many simply don’t want to take the time required to actually figure out what they want to do with their lives. my generations’ general aversion of introspection probably stems from our the fact that in a world that is moving along so fast we don’t want to take a moment out to figure out how we fit into the big picture. we’re often quite willing to let the tide take us where it will…

in this whirlwind it was nice to stop for a couple of hours and talk to more admitted students yesterday who embody the kind of enthusiasm most of us probably had before we arrived here.

needless to say i didn’t get any work done last night either...