We are Generation Delta

The great philosopher Ferris Beuller once said, “life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” To the modern everyman, such a statement on the pace of life in the 80’s seems comical. Life then was at a snail’s pace compared to what we’re dealing with today.

Our generation has grown up in an environment that always seems to be getting faster. When most of us were born in the late 80’s, the internet hadn’t even been approved yet for non-governmental usage. This past semester, I handed in every one of my papers online. When most of us were born, cell phones were a novelty about the size of a brick that people would see in movies. Now I feel ostracized by my friends because my two year old phone is too “ancient.” When we were born, people still had to make plans in advance, to give some thought to their day, to their week, to their year. But we are a generation on the fly, always moving, always going in a directionless motion that we are actively defining.

My parents were a part of the baby boom generation. The 1960s and 70s gave us Generation X. I would define our generation as Generation Delta---constantly changing over time.

I do not, however, wish this to be some sort of anti-technological diatribe. On the contrary, innovation constantly surprises and awes me. We are able to share information faster than ever, stay in touch with loved ones a world away, and create greater cross cultural understanding in new and inventive ways. But this age of technology comes at a price: a faster paced life that can sometimes make it hard to breath.

When I was younger, my parents, as all parents do, told me I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up. But that just isn’t true anymore. I will not be a doctor. I will not be a baseball player. I will not be President of the United States. Without a doubt, dozens of people have asked all of you this weekend what you are doing with your lives. Is it acceptable that I simply don’t yet know? And is it out of a fear of becoming an adult or fear of becoming someone I simply don’t want to be?

One piece of knowledge that I have gained in my very brief time on this planet is that decisions in life do not get easier. Rather, as we grow, the decisions become harder, and the ramifications become all too real. It is one thing to be blasé about whether or not we will attend a 9am lecture. It is quite another when we treat in haste the nurturing of young minds or the development of poor neighborhoods.

We are generation Delta, a generation that has had the word change forced down their throat so much that its become meaningless. We are moving, faster and faster, G-chatting our way into an indeterminable oblivion while organizing social movements on the side. We are raising money to fight hunger while BBMing our friends the latest gossip. We are writing policy briefs and opinion pieces and staking our claim on the world while stalking our friends on facebook.

We are generation Delta, and the world will soon be in our hands. Will we be the harbingers of this “change” we have heard so much about? Or will the technological revolution lead to a de-evolution, a pace of life that is so fast we sometimes forget we are human beings, not machines.

About ten days ago, famed English Professor Ralph Williams stood in this auditorium and gave his last lecture at the University of Michigan. Professor Williams said many brilliant things that night, but the one he said that stuck with me more than anything was “you cannot create a world that you cannot first imagine.” We are generation Delta---perhaps it is time we close our eyes and decide what world we want to live in.

In my favorite childhood book, The Phantom Tollbooth, the main character of the book Milo, unexpectedly finds himself on the Island of conclusions, which you get to by jumping. Milo escapes the Island by thinking. I don’t want to jump headfirst into a life that I’m not entirely sure I want. I want to search for more questions before I begin to pretend I have all the answers.

We cannot solve the immigration debate in this country until we begin to define what makes an American. In the constantly changing, fast paced world that we live in, can we accept the irony of good fences making good neighbors?

We cannot solve the financial crisis until we decide what sort of financial system we’d like to build. In a world where the internet delves out equality in at least the virtual realm, does a capitalist driven survival of the fittest system best match our current complexities and desires?

We cannot spread freedom to the world until we define what that freedom means. When is free speech breaching the social contract?

We are generation Delta, and in this room there is without a doubt a hodge podge of future leaders of America. As we together embark on this arduous journey, let us not be afraid to stop, or at least slow down, and ponder this future that ominously hangs ahead. Let us be willing to sacrifice political expediency, and all kinds of expediency, for that matter, for the sake of real, genuine, and measured progress. Let us forsake the short run in favor of the long run. Let us THINK! Think of the possibilities ahead of us and about the doors that already seem to be closing. Let us not allow technology and society and pre-supposed notions dictate the way we live our lives; rather, let the way we live our lives dictate the changes we desire.


We are generation Delta. Do not be afraid to buck convention, to isolate your thoughts and dreams from the influence of the outside world and imagine a better tomorrow. Do not pigeonhole yourself into the future you are supposed to have; create for yourself the future you WANT to have. Do not take the fast and easy way out; take the hard way, the slow way, and your reward will be much more grand.

We are generation Delta. You are generation Delta. I am Generation Delta. The world seems to be moving real fast, and I’m frankly a little scared. You should be too. Because it is this fear that will allow us to always re-evaluate, to never become complacent with the world we have. We are constantly changing over time, faced with new problems and new possibilities. Our time is not infinite, but it is here, and it is now, and it is ours. So I ask you, my teachers, my family, my friends, my fellow graduates, while we are all here on this earth, think things through. Because life is too short to spend it all on your blackberry.