Amal Oladuja addresses a dilemma, often overlooked by adults and educators, of young people, in his article, “Of My Generation”. Amal discusses the pressures put on teens to be balanced in all areas and be healthy and happy. He feels these expectations are too far fetched, and suggests that many of them contradict each other, “I am supposed to be satisfied with my life, but am encouraged to make dramatic changes frequently…” I agree highly with most of his points. The constructed stresses forced upon us under tight constrictions can at times be anger inducing and frustrating. What I had an issue with in this article was the tone in which he states his feelings. This article is very much a rant, and a few paragraphs full of pure complaints can be hard to read. I think the picture below the article is accurate to what I would imagine Amal to look like, yelling about his generation.

I think that Amal’s article definitely has some great points, but personally, I would have went about writing this article in a very different way. Although Amal’s words have force and power behind them, to me, that aspect kind of becomes lost under layers of exasperation over exaggeration. In the last paragraph, he mentions this generation to be “stillborn”, in the sense that his destiny had been decided before he was born. I think he should look at his situation in more of a rational, optimistic way. Maybe, for instance, accept the fact that he can’t balance everything and his ultimate priorities should be in place. Within that peace with himself, he has potential succeed on his own terms, which is something I get the vibe he would want.