The letter Z is the worst letter in the English language. There, I said it. But like it or not, our generation is called “Gen Z”…or is it iGen? Gen Tech? Post-Millennial? No one can really seem to decide, and that’s because our generation still has some time left before a historian can look at a timeline and say “yep, that’s Gen ___ alright.” So, let’s ask ourselves: what does the future hold for Gen Z?

Our generation began sometime around 1999. We grew up in a country filled with strong patriotism following the September 11th attack, a failed war on terror that further divided the Middle East, and a crisis of privacy invasion following Edward Snowden’s leak of the Patriot Act’s questionable ethics.

Under the watchful eye of the Internet (not to mention the NSA), Gen Z has the privilege of accessing the Internet for any information which fits its youth. Today, accessing information about how our government is functioning can be done with a quick Google search, or by downloading numerous news apps on one’s phone for instant updates on the state of the country.

We, as Gen Z, have the opportunity to be analytical and unbiased with the politics of this country. By growing up in an age of digital information at our fingertips and a plethora of media sources to choose from, our job is to lead the world for future generations through our political choices.

The previous generation, the Millennials, grew up in a world where the Internet became more accessible than ever before, going from dial up connections in the early nineties to high speed broadband by the early 2000’s. With Gen Z succeeding the Millennials, our generation should seek to serve as the bridge between the Millennials and post Gen Z with our tech savvy nature learned at such young ages.

Concerns exist about the role of technology in our lives. We are the first generation to grow up with easy access to the Internet. Over time, the all-encompassing presence of technology has certainly played a role in defining each of our characters.

The future of technology in Gen Z is why some people prefer to use the term: Generation Tech. We live in the fastest growing age of technology, just as the next generation will following us. It is for this reason that our generation, the individuals who grew up on the Internet, should be the ones to pass down technology to our children in a responsible and thoughtful manner.

We, as members of Gen Z, didn’t choose to be born into this generation. For better or for worse, we are experiencing a world that was shaped by individuals who grew up in a world that lacked the digital superhighway of the Internet as well as the crucial value of objectivity of receiving political information.

Knowledge is power, and our generation can use that knowledge to act on shaping the world into a better and smarter place.

It’s our job to lead by example. Let’s show the world that Gen Z, Gen Tech, or whatever historians wish to call it, is a generation that’s more knowledgeable than any other generation before.