How Do You Feel When
Your Friend Sits Beside You?

By Kim Myung-Im ("Mary Ann")

<joymn@hotmail.net>


        I entered our university this year as a transfer student in the English Language and Literature Department with eight other students. They are younger than me and some are generation N. One of the transfer students left this university in October this year. Some of her friends told her that she was strange and different, not like other students. So she felt lonely and thought that nobody cared about her. Finally, she decided to quit studying. I never thought that she had an odd character and attitude. But I did not realize that I also did not care about her until she was gone. It made me think about many things. They were all members of the generation N who told her to go away from them.
        We call young people from fifteen to twenty-five generation N. They have outstanding personalities and self-expression. Generation N are opposite the baby boom generation. Older people often tell the new generation that they are very spoiled and do not care about others. They also think that generation N know computer languages fluently as well as have access to lots of information, so that they have little affection and love. There are many things they enjoy everywhere, for example, Internet games, DDR, PUMP, computer chatting, and so on. These things have become a part of their life. They have a very special sense of fashion and consumption. Their hair is dyed various colors, and they wear very big, loose pants that look like they have many holes and drag on the ground. They also wear many unusual items of jewelry, pierce holes in their body, and sometimes have tattoos.
        With generation N, there are many students who are called wangdda by their neighbors and friends. The students have new relationships after beginning a new semester and change their circumstance. Then it is time to start to choose a wangdda again and again. Generation N seem to like to make a group that they belong to, and that group must have the same members who have common characters. They try to be similar to each other and often find someone to antagonize. They do not think that the  people they antagonize might commit suicide or make other social problems every now and then. The people who are left out in the cold from the social groups have had many troubles and problems in their life. Sometimes, it has caused many students to commit suicide and to commit many youth criminals.
        I remember hearing the news that a seventy-seven-year-old man scolded a student for his rude attitude on the subway in September. They quarreled with each other because of a seat. As a result of that, the old man was killed. In this case, it seemed that he felt an irresistible impulse to hurt that old man. Sometimes, this event makes me think that generation N can do anything they want, no matter how serious or dangerous.
        Today, most youth cannot bear to wait even for a very short time. In public places, especially, they do not consider others. I think many people nowadays are more selfish and egoistic than when I was younger. Their personal dispositions lead them to a destructive lifestyle and world. We need to help each other to make the world a better place. Above all, older people should be good models anytime.


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