1-800-ANXIOUS
Nov 22nd
They're convenient and helpful but cell phones are driving Gen Y crazy (Image Via: Daveibsen.typepad.com)
During a summer vacation in 2007, Cristina Pansolini’s cell phone kicked the metaphoric bucket and with it went her ability to enjoy a stress-free trip. Sans cell phone, how would she make plans with friends? Would her boyfriend think she was ignoring his text messages? What if she needed to contact her family? Although Pansolini was back in cellular business a few days later, the now 21-year-old college senior winces at the thought of being without her beloved iPhone for even a moment. “The thing is my life, I don’t think I could function without it,” she says.
Like an arm or leg, the cell phone is a modern day appendage that millennials have come to depend on. With the ability to talk, text, send emails, and correspond over social media, cell phones are communication’s ‘round-the-clock nucleus and, simultaneously, society’s hopeless addiction. Lisa Merlo, a clinical psychologist at the University of Florida, told “Cellular-News” that cell phone users oftentimes feel anxious when they accidentally leave the device at home or are forced to turn it off. But why are Generation Y hearts so uneasy when their digital counterparts aren’t in hand?
Gen Y Wants to Be Its Own Boss
Oct 25th
On a dreary Sunday morning, more than 300 NYU students made their way into the business school’s main auditorium. Despite the early hour, they furiously took notes and raised question after question. Had this been an ordinary lecture, such participation would not have been expected. But this was no ordinary lecture: after all, $200,000 was at stake.
Sunday’s meeting was the kickoff to NYU’s Entrepreneurs Challenge, an annual competition that helps students develop their own ventures and awards up to $200,000 in grants to top business ideas. The competition was designed to foster entrepreneurships on campus.
But NYU is not alone. Colleges around the country have adopted similar programs on their campuses. And the field has exploded: In 1970, just 16 universities offered classes in entrepreneurship; now that number is more than 2,000, according to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. With mounting economic uncertainty, more millennials are attracted to the idea of being their own boss.
Affordable Luxury for the Gen Y Woman
Dec 8th
NYU junior Mary Williamson hasn’t been to Fifth Avenue’s Henri Bendel, where the girls at the headband counter used to greet her by name, all semester. Though she no longer hands over $150 for a Jennifer Behr headband, visions of the pricey accessories run through her head.
Williamson has limited her food purchases, walked the mile and a half to class instead of taking the subway, and skipped going out to bars and clubs in order to save up for her beloved Lululemon yoga pants and a new pair of designer jeans.
She, and other Gen Y women have grown up on brands just as they came of age with Nick at Nite, Beanie Babies, and slap bracelets. They sought out designer buy goods as early as middle school, first with $150 Kate Spade bags, soon after with $80 Juicy sweatpants and finally with $160 designer jeans. Over the years, Gen Y has become hyperaware of designer labels.
Although the recession has hurt premium apparel brands, they continue to find favor among fashion-conscious, Gen Y women who, so long as companies tailor their marketing strategies appropriately, are buying into affordable luxury. Read the rest of this entry »