The real world

My mom is a custodian, my dad is a landlord and I recently bought a pair of Emporio Armani glasses. \nIn a little more than a week, I will be a college graduate, a feat neither of my parents ever accomplished. My mom never attended high school because of economic reasons, and my dad was a suave rebel who didn't think college was for him. \nIn grade school, I stayed after school emptying out classroom trash cans as my mom cleaned the bathrooms on the first floor. She always said, "Do better than me." \nAnd I have, but at the same time I never will. I might know more than my parents when it comes to "The Associated Press Stylebook" or American history, but I will never know more about hard work or life in general. For this reason, I respect my parents and anyone without a "proper" education working a blue-collar job. \nA good friend of mine and fellow graduating senior recently told me that his one hope for our generation is that we graduate with class. \nA couple of weeks ago, he witnessed an altercation between a businessman and a bus-woman at a hotel café. The man shouted at and insulted the bus-woman for prematurely placing his drink on her tray after he left his table. The bus-woman apologized and offered the man his drink back. He loudly refused the drink, citing that it touched the bus-woman's tray.\nMy friend ended his story by saying, "I hope we never become like that," and I agree.\nIn more than a week, every graduating senior will move up in social class. Education allows this jump in class, and we mustn't forget where we came from. \nMost of us have worked menial jobs as servers, cashiers or busers. Luckily for us, these jobs were only stepping stones to higher education.\nI know that not everyone's story is even remotely similar to mine, but the point is to respect those who, according to society, are not in our social class. Just because we were fortunate enough to receive a higher education doesn't mean everyone was granted that chance. \nThe media have titled us the "entitlement generation" because we believe that we deserve greatness and we shouldn't have to earn it. However, the media have been wrong before. \nWe're just as hardworking as any generation, and I hope with time it will show. After all, we're the ones who are likely going to have to do without Social Security checks. \nMy four years at IU have been amazing. I was the first of five siblings to venture out and go away to college. Here I've met the most interesting, funny and crazy people in my life. \nSure, many of us have made mistakes while at IU, like getting arrested or failing a class, but it's OK because they are learning experiences. The senior class is ready to take that next step into the real world. All I have left to say is represent our generation with class, and remember these simpler times because life doesn't hand out report cards twice a year.