I have been doing research today for my boss on Generation Y. I learned a lot of things on the internet about myself. Who knew? I am finally starting to understand… I decided to write out a personal perspective for my boss.

We love music. With the birth of iPods, it didn’t take long for us to be seen with a white cord dangling from our ear everywhere we went. We’ll never understand why our parents can’t figure out the circular “wheel” that can literally take you through the entire machine and find everything from music to games to pictures to movies. We know the latest music that has come out and, with so many constant changes in styles, we’re almost required to like it all. No longer is a station simply “pop” or another genre; it is just a “top hits” station because the new music that is coming out is such a mixture of pop, rock, punk, Euro dance, and R&B that it’s impossible to label. We also prefer buying and downloading music directly from the internet onto our computers instead of buying CDs in stores.

We are tech savvy. We can figure out a new Nintendo Wii game in a few minutes (in this case, “we” is a generalizing term that doesn’t include me). We can find an answer to a question with a few clicks on the internet. Give us about an hour and we can have our new laptop set-up, installed, and personalized. We hardly remember a time without the internet, let alone the sound of dial-up connecting. We have grown accustomed to taking our world with us and the computers we’re buying are set-up for us with that in mind, from built-in wireless to small, compact, durable casing.

We’ve had a cell phone in our possession too many years to count. We feel naked, vulnerable, and helpless without our cell phone; we take it everywhere, always. We text message each other more than we call. Why? It’s easier. We’re often on the run and to be able to catch someone else (who is also on the run) for a phone conversation is almost impossible. So we text. It’s an easy, non-interrupting way to get in touch with someone because they can get back to us on their own time and, often, they can text back a lot sooner than they could call (texting is quieter, quicker, and to-the-point). It has never made sense to my parents and, according to different articles online, it seems that people are concerned about our “inability to verbally communicate.” We really don’t have a problem talking! I promise. Our cell phone minutes can prove that.

In general, we are obsessed with “facebook,” a website similar to MySpace. It started at Harvard (where the creator was going to college), but became so popular that it was opened to all colleges, then highschools, then companies, and now to everyone. We check our facebook sites at least daily. We put up our photo albums, our favorite movies, our current status (i.e. “Emily is so excited to go on vacation.” or “Emily is thinking that her neighbor must be crazy to go jogging in this heat!”), links to our favorite websites, personal blogs, and we join groups with other members (groups like “When I Was Your Age, Pluto Was A Planet,” “I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar,” “Brushing My Teeth Is Not An Obsession, It’s A Lifestyle,” and “I Hate Tangled iPod Headphones!”). We scan a “news feed,” which is updated by the minute, to find out about the new things our friends are doing and to see if any of our friends have upcoming birthdays. We can write notes on our friends’ site “walls” and comment on their pictures. We can fill in maps of where we’ve been in the world and send each other virtual margaritas. Our friends on facebook (we must mutually accept each other as “friends” before we can see each other’s sites) range from kids we went to high school with to current friends to people we just met. Ultimately, we love to be connected to people around us and we love to have people interested in us. Facebook is a place that provides both of those things in an efficient way.

We like to eat, but are aware of the kinds of food we eat. We used to live on fast foods, but are changing our minds and becoming focused on nutrition and health. Sure, we might still have an occasional hotdog or donut eating contest, but you’ll find us scanning the lighter choice menus a lot more. Keep in mind though that we also get really bored with the ordinary salad or with grilled chicken sandwich. We want to eat healthy foods, but we want to eat interesting healthy foods. We want to look nice, stay fit, be active, and feel good about ourselves. We are becoming more aware of our bodies and the consequences of what will happen if we don’t take care of them now.

Somehow, in our health rage, we still enjoy good alcohol. We like trying new things, like mixing Vodka and Red Bull or finding new, bizarre recipes in magazines. We like playing drinking games like “Flippy Cup” and “Beer Pong.” While the college drinking still goes strong, we are not so obsessed anymore with getting drunk, but rather, we drink socially; we just want to have a fun time with our friends.

As far as dress goes, we, the Gen Y ladies, are unpredictable. On one Saturday, you will find us shopping at the mall in jeans, a cute top, oversized jewelry, coordinating shoes, and a handbag that brings the whole ensemble together in harmony. The next Saturday, you will find us shopping at the same mall in sweats, a hooded sweatshirt, and flip flops (we tend to wear flip-flops all year around). We like our individuality. We notice the trends, but take special care to make sure that we create our own take on them. It is a nightmare to be put into uniform and often, if we are required to do so, you’ll notice that we come up with other ways to be expressive even in our uniform. Maybe it’s in our jewelry or our shoes or our makeup. Headbands, anyone? We love comfort, but we’re willing to do away with comfort to slip into 5-inch heels for an evening or to endure a 10-minute walk in the winter wind in a sleeveless top because we know the dance floor will be hot once we get there.

We are globally conscious. We want fuel efficient cars. We want to recycle. We turn off the light switch if we’re leaving the room. We unplug our curling irons when we’re done in the morning. We care about helping people and, more often than not, would rather do that personally than by donating money to an organization. We want to make our world a beautiful place to live and we realize that we can help make a difference.

We have been taught to speak up and have our opinions matter. We have been exposed to the world at a much younger age and we have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. Life has been an adventure of constant change and we feel well equipped to handle just about any situation. Family is important to us as well as friendships and we will gladly revolve our work lives around our families.

We may confuse you, but if you have taken the time to develop a relationship of honesty and trust with us, we will stick with you through anything.