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Today’s college students: The next great generation

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Leadership

SmartBrief is partnering with Big Think to create a weekly video spotlight in SmartBrief on Leadership called “VIP Corner: Video Insights Powered by Big Think.” This week, we’re featuring Jack Myers, chairman of the Media Advisory Group.

College students today are totally unique in that they bridge the pre- and post-internet gap and they have the potential to be the next great generation, says Jack Myers, chairman of the Media Advisory Group. He says that they retain some of the qualities associated with pre-internet generations including being hard workers and at the same time they are internet pioneers and leaders. “They’re the first to cross this bridge, if you will, the first to cross this chasm and as leaders they’re builders and what they’re building is a more stable world for themselves,” he says.

Myers notes that while pre-internet generations look at the internet as a place of chaos, today’s college students look at it as a place of economic, political and social stability. He says they have the potential to lead us into balance and stability through the internet, which over the last two decades has been marked by social disruption.

He says that they also have grown up hearing about the challenges and difficulties ahead, but they have embraced those things. Instead of growing up with the belief that life is easy and success can be achieved without hard work, they are up for the challenges and they are prepared to work hard. “They’re much more interested in contributing and giving back and doing good and they’re far less inclined to think that it’s going to be easy for them,” Myers says.

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