How a 21-yr-old Golfer Embodies the Millennial Dream

Opinion

Published on April 16th, 2015 | by Hypeline Staff

Can you name the last golfer to lead all four rounds of the Masters? I know your guess — Tiger Woods.

Wrong. It was Raymond Floyd in 1976.

Jordan Spieth, a 21-year old Texan, did what even Tiger Woods couldn’t (and I’m not talking about the twelve affairs… omg!)

The kid finished eighteen strokes under par, turning Augusta National into the Jordan Spieth Show. This Millennial brought the country to its feet.

But that’s not how most Americans feel about young people. The Associated Press calls us “The Entitlement Generation.” The 2006 book, “Generation Me,” asserts that the average millennial has higher levels of self-esteem and assertiveness than any other time in history. We are labeled “narcissistic” and “ungrounded” for our high expectations from life.

But what if some of these traits aren’t bad?

In House of Cards Season Three, Freddy (the man who used to run Frank Underwood’s favorite BBQ joint) visits the White House with his grandson. As the boy walks in, Underwood lets him sit in the President’s chair, and says, “If you work hard, this desk could be yours someday.”

The boy later tells Freddy that he wants to become President someday. But Freddy responds, “That’s never going to happen…this place ain’t for you and me.”

Little kids are always dreaming, and dreaming big at that. They want to be astronauts and doctors and even President. But what happens when they grow up? They stop dreaming. They see the school loans and the rent payments and the hardships of life. They decide it’s not worth it to dream anymore.

Perhaps Millennials are different though. We shoot for the stars. We set higher goals for ourselves than young adults ever did before us.

Sadly, a lot of us will stop there. We’ll wish for a better job. We’ll wish for a better world. We may even fall into depression because our dreams don’t become reality.

But, some of us will go further.

We’ll let the dreams of our childhood tenaciously fuel our work. We’ll do the things that others are not willing to do. We’ll go further than others ever can. We’ll use the technology of today to become more productive, rather than more distracted.

Jordan Spieth dreamed big, worked hard, and earned a Green Jacket at the age of twenty-one. He represents a generation with more potential to better America — and the world — than any before us. We refuse to believe in the impossible. We challenge the status quo.

And I believe we will make this world a better place.

Tags: golf, millennial, sports