Millennial Women Speak

As with many areas in the blogosphere (except feminism and parenting, it seems), male bloggers outnumber female bloggers. The same is true of blogs by Millennials about Millennials. But I've just found a great blog written by women: "Life Before Noon: A Millenial's Manual."

Life Before Noon is meant to be a voice for and by the Millennial Generation.

All five creators are college seniors with our looming graduation date fast-approaching. We want to foster an environment that promotes a dialogue about Millennials’ transition after college.

Through this dialogue we hope to generate a positive, respectful community that is open to all opinions. We don’t claim to be an authority, but we hope to help guide the conversation, while we ourselves navigate this period of life.

Here's just a sample of what these impressive collegiate women have to say:

On leadership

Leadership is about stepping outside of yourself. While our generation is inherently concerned with failure (myself included), we often focus too much on our personal advancement.

Throughout my college years, I have done minimal volunteer work. Granted I have volunteered a couple hours here and there each semester and donated money to causes, but that’s where my volunteering and philanthropic work ended. I was engrossed in advancing my studies, my activities, my internship, my job, my work, my blog, me, me, me, me. Of course I cared for the community and environment, but I was so overly consumed with advancing myself that I was blind to advancing the people in need around me. I had a case of Millennial passion and fear of failure to the max. I also wanted to wear that fancy suit.

On professionalism

What is professionalism? Wouldn’t it be great if you could buy it in a book, find it on the Internet or take it in pill form?

While trying to find myself over the past 3.5 years, I have transformed from a student into a young professional-in-training by taking several critical steps, mostly without even knowing. By becoming more professional in school situations, I have felt more prepared to enter the working world. Here are a few ways I have tried to become a young professional-in-training while still in college:

Having a mindset of a professional. Go to work, the library and class to get school work done. Set aside other times for socialization on or off campus. Meet with other students to work on group projects in a professional manner. Write e-mails to professors and peers in a timely manner.

Asking questions and listening. Knowledge is power.

Dressing the part. Sweatpants are for the gym and sleeping.

Finding a job or internship. Having a job or internship on or off campus requires the time management that is necessary for success in college and the working world. Jobs and internships allow students to gain technical and interpersonal skills.

Following the “24 hour rule”. Aim to get major assignments done at least a day in advance. This will leave time for editing or review, both in school and on the job.

Getting there early. Follow the old “if you are five minutes early you are on time, if you are on time, you are late” adage.

Having confidence. College is usually a welcoming community. Take advantage of everything your school has to offer, you may gain skills, knowledge and friendships.

I think of professionalism as a mindset that can be practiced in college. By taking simple steps to change our mindsets while in school, hopefully the transition into the real world will come easier during our first”real” job.

And in that post, the headings were even grammatically parallel!

If you want to see the best of what this generation has to offer, check in periodically with Life Before Noon. I wonder if any of the women want to go to law school . . .