I grew up in a world of dress-up and birthday cake. Like most children, I didn’t worry about the complexities of life and turmoils of growing up. I didn’t have to.

But everyone gets older, and getting older means accepting that there is more to life than video games and Disney Channel. There’s a whole world around you, and living in it means advocating for the things that would make your life better.

No one taught me that lesson. I learned it myself. I am still teaching myself the importance of those words as the year progresses, and I know I am not the only one.

My generation has flaws just like any other, but our most formative years landed in the midst of a struggle for equality, a strive for societal open-mindedness and a time of new forms of self expression emerging from the dark.

We learned to educate ourselves – to use the technological tools given to us and do more. 

I consider my generation lucky for that. It is obvious that in the past, the culture of acceptance and battle for change was a feeble one. That was just the way things were.

It is Generation Z’s time to carry the torch of change. From criticizing the morality of the airstrike in Iran, to advocating for the safest ways to go about life during a global pandemic, to protesting for justice to be served for innocent Black lives at the hands of pure hate, to defending Native American land, to sparking outrage over the dehumanization of immigrants in cages, my generation has seen it all. 

We did not walk away from the challenges of the real world. Our efforts this year, big or small, will find their impact in the next coming years. That is a truly remarkable thing.

For that, I am thankful. 

Follow Camila Villarreal (@fliipthewriter) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.