The word “millennial” has been a recent buzzword, loosely used to mean someone who was born after 1982 but before the new millennium. The millennial generation came of age in the “2000s,” and thus most of today’s college students fit into this category. The millennials were the first to grow up with instant access to information through the internet, and the first to carry smart phones around in our pockets. However, millennials also grew up with a more astute knowledge of the world around us thanks to this newfound power of information. Millennials grew up in a post-9/11 world in which terrorism was a real and frightening possibility. They grew up in the age of the war on terror, and American boots on the ground in the Middle East. Millenials grew up during an economic downturn, which caused a healthcare crisis that we as Americans are still combatting today. They grew up with the fight against global climate change. Due to the technology of today, we knew these things as they happened. Millennials grew up in the age of mass media, and that means that they grew up quickly.

The 2016 presidential election is the first time that many American millennials are going to exercise their newfound right to vote. Coincidentally, it is also one of the most tumultuous elections that the United States has ever seen – how fitting, for a generation that has already taken the world by storm by being so different than their parents before them. The frontrunners currently are Donald Trump as the likely Republican nominee, with Hillary Clinton leading for the Democrats. Bernie Sanders – with his wealth of millennial support – follows Hillary in presuit of the nomination. This is a rare and unusual election, with atypical candidates, and millenials don’t know what to think, or how to vote, although a few things are certain: the millennial generation is enigmatic in their expectations for the next president. They are both hopeful and hopeless. They understand both the humor and the gravity of the current situation. They are idealistic and jaded. They are these things in all situations, and they will continue to be. The question remains: what do millenials expect from the person who will be president as they navigate early adulthood?

“I expect them to shake things up to say the least. We have one of the first major women candidate, a senior citizen and funky maniac billionaire. Chaos either way, but the fun kind,” says Connor Smith, freshman Industrial Design major at County College of Morris, referring to Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump, respectively. His answer is light, goofy even, but it hints at the concerns millenials have for the upcoming elections and the presidency to follow.

“Honestly, whoever we vote for, it’s going to be bad. I’ve been blocking most of the election out because it’s been such a clown fiesta,” adds Smith’s friend Keith Hawkins — also a freshman at County College of Morris – with a laugh. Like many millenials, these two are ignoring much of the politics of the upcoming election. However, their devil-may-care attitude is overshadowed by the acknowledgement that they have little hope for whomever the next president will be.
Millenials are often rumored as being prematurely jaded, and perhaps this is true. Indeed, many young people fear that the next president will be self-serving, and state that they would not be as their number one concern.

“I just want them to do what they think is right for the American people instead of Washington elites and special interests,” states Dan Mondschein, a freshman political science major at Northeastern University, expressing frustration with the current political system, including the passing of Citizens United.

Karen Katzin, a junior Interactive Multimedia major at The College of New Jersey, appears to agree with Mondschein, fearing that the president has become a self-serving figurehead rather than a voice for the people.

“I’m just hoping for a leader who has the country’s best interests in mind, someone who puts the ‘Average American’ before themselves, and wants to provide a better future for our children,” says Katzin. These bare-bones requirements for presidential candidates are alarming at best, yet many young people seem to believe that a president who is honest and fair is the best that they could hope for.

“I’d be happy if they didn’t bring us into another war, if they weren’t racist or sexist, and if they actually make a semi-important change to literally any of our country’s problems… bonus points if they help more than one,” responds Annemarie Lillis, a freshman Television and Radio major at Ithaca College, when asked her expectations for the next president. Her response is one among dozens that are uncertain what they want, but are aware that change is necessary and that they are hungry for it.

Millenials ask not for specific issues to be corrected, but for morality in our government. Unfortunately, many have little vision that such a thing is possible.

Yet the millenials, as a generation defined by growing up with what was once thought impossible, still have hope.

“I would hope that our next president would be accepting of all types of people – all genders, sexualities, religions, ethnicities – and fight to reduce alienations of these groups of people. And I hope that he, or she, would have a plan to help with all of the violence both inside and outside of the United States. It needs to stop, and I know we can help,” says Lauren Astor, a freshman Emerging Media major at Ithaca College.

Astor’s answer is simple and idealistic. Yet it completes the trifecta of millennial attitudes toward the next president – they are nervous and jaded, they have low expectations… yet they still hope what they believe to be impossible, to be possible. Millenials remain hopeful for a brighter tomorrow, and will bring this with them to the voting booth.

For further reading:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/the-liberal-millennial-revolution/470826/

http://www.theatlantic.com/sponsored/allstate/when-it-comes-to-politics-do-millennials-care-about-anything/255/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/16/sleep-well-baby-boomers-the-millennials-arent-taking-over-politics-yet/