Geography And Generations X, Y, & Z

Yesterday I drove across the northern tier of Maryland to visit my grandson.  He is currently a student at Western Maryland University.  I enjoyed being on the road again even if only for a day and even  though I wasn’t driving  Odysseus (our miniature RV).  It is a  three and a half  hour drive to Austin’s campus from our home on the Eastern Shore.  The state of Maryland has three geographical areas:  the Coastal Plain (both sides of the Chesapeake Bay, including the Eastern Shore), the Piedmont Plateau (the area separating the Appalachian Mountains and the coastal area), and Western Maryland (the Appalachian Mountains with elevations ranging from 1000 to 3000 feet).  Each geographical area is unique.  Each area has its own charm and beauty.  

Thinking about those three geographical areas of Maryland somehow caused me to focus on the three most recent Generations, called X, Y, and Z.  I am part of the “Silent Generation” (1925-1945).  Those born after WWII (1946 to 1964) are labeled the Baby Boomers. My three children are Generation X (1964-c.1978).  Two  of my grandchildren belong to Generation Y or the Millennials (1980 to 1995), and four are considered Generation Z (1996 to the present).   Like Maryland’s geography these generations are connected, but are at the same time quite distinct from one another, each having unique characteristics.

Austin and his brother Nick are members of the latest generation to be born—Generation Z. (I don’t know what on earth we’ll call the next generation since we seem to have used up the alphabet).  Generation Z-ers  (post-Millennials) were born into a society “where information, education and everything else, is just a click away.”  They have used the Internet since a young age and are generally comfortable with technology and with social media. At their fingertips there is a technology that just a few years ago was unthinkable (and for their grandparents a technology that remains unthinkable). What will they do with it?  Generation Z-ers presently make up 26% of the US population—by 2020 they will account for one-third of the US population.  They can process information faster than any previous generation.  They can “create a document on their school computer, do research on their phone or tablet, while taking notes on a notepad, then finish in front of the TV with a laptop, while face-timing a friend.”  They are more global-minded, have higher expectations and accept diversity more readily than any previous generation. 

This is why I drove through three geographical areas of Maryland yesterday (three and a half hours each way) to have lunch with my grandson—four generations removed!  Austin and his generation give me hope and I’ll travel a long way to bask in that hope these days.