Stetson Millennials Tell Us Who They Are in a Question-and-Answer Session
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To find out about today’s Stetson students, stetson magazine asked one freshman group and another of upperclass students pointed questions about how they see themselves. Since we asked similar questions to each group, we combined their responses. The upperclass group included Brendan Beitler of Tampa, Fla., a senior finance major; Veronica Casal of San Juan, Puerto Rico, a junior integrative health science major; E. Krystal Somaza of Caracas, Venezuela, a finance and economics major; Maurie Murray of Pensacola, Fla., a senior digital arts major; Suzanne Lopez of Orlando, a senior management and MIS double major; Elizabeth Pfaff of Orlando, Fla., a sophomore management major; and Courtney Allbee of Pembroke Pines, Fla., a senior communication and media studies major. The freshmen included Ricardo A. Ramos of San Juan, Puerto Rico, an accounting major; Molly Belmont of Philadelphia, Pa., a marketing major; Charlotte Grace of Pensacola, Fla., an elementary education major; and Kalee Ball of Jacksonville, Fla., an English major. So who are today’s Stetson students? Let’s let them tell us in their own words. stetson magazine: How would you characterize or describe Stetson students today? Lopez: I would say “involved.” Everyone is highly involved in his or her classes. We’re also involved with a lot of extracurricular activities, such as SGA or Greek life or another club or doing research with faculty or having internships, studying abroad. We are all highly involved people.
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Beitler: I would say involved and engaged. Allbee: Stetson is so small that it forces you to get to know people, so I would use the word “diverse.” Grace: Stetson students are people who value education. They’re motivated to get a degree. They have this plan for their future. The students care about what they’re studying. stetson magazine: Would you say, then, that you are inclusive and that you are more accepting of difference and diversity? Belmont: Yes! Every single type of difference. Grace: I think our generation is definitely more accepting. Beitler: Stetson helps you adapt to different cultures. Stetson gets you out of your comfort zone. In terms of generations, I would say that we are a lot more accepting. Lopez: I also think Stetson provides a better atmosphere to accept others and be exposed to diversity. I am in the business school, so a lot of my classes have international students in them. They bring a different perspective to class. We want to know how it is where they’re from. stetson magazine: What do you think of what TIME magazine writes about you on its cover? “Millennials are lazy, entitled narcissists who still live with their parents.” Does that offend you? How would you characterize what this cover says? Grace: I think it’s half and half. There are a lot of people who are gung-ho and want to make the world a better place. My parents live in a wealthy area. If you look at our high school’s parking lot, it’s as if people all have nice cars — in fact, some people might call it
a luxury car lot — because their parents buy them that stuff. And they feel so entitled. They get most everything they want. But there are people who do want to make a difference. Belmont: I believe Stetson is reflective of people who want to change the world. But we do like our social networking and go, “Oh, how many followers do I have?” I admit that social media is important to me. Ramos: My school was for middle-class kids. They weren’t like, “I’ve got mine, and I don’t care about anybody else.” But there were some students who didn’t care about anyone but themselves. On the other hand, there were those who wanted to help others. Maybe it’s a broad generalization about our generation. It is true: We love our social media. We need to know how many followers we have on