Generation Y: Most Advanced Generation Ever?
We’re those kids who text message at a WPM rate equivalent to the speed that we type our term papers, we aren’t in a relationship unless Facebook says so, and we micro blog throughout the day about everything from waking up to eating a bologna and cheese for lunch. We were born between the early 80’s and the early 90’s. None of us are 30, but all of us have the world at our fingertips, quite literally. We watched the internet evolve and we know how to use it best. We are Generation Y, and we might be the most advanced generation ever.
So far we have proved that we can market ourselves on the internet very well as many young entrepreneurs have created internet businesses, service websites, and founded multimillion dollar corporations before graduating from college. It is with this audacity and longing for financial gain along with a sense of understanding of our poor environmental standing that has separated Generation Y already.
The Baby Boomer Generation (our parents) are humble, work oriented, and appreciate an 8 hour work day, the typical Generation Y worker is bold, goal oriented, and wants to work less and spend their time in more meaningful situations. What a change! Is it that we resented our parents’ choices in the workplace or did we stumble upon a healthier way to live? Literature encouraging our style of labor is already being published. A great example of this The 4 Hour Work Week. In fact, much controversy surrounds the novel by Timothy Ferriss and his instruction of working less and living more. Ferris encourages people to become part of the NR (new rich) by automating your life and workin
g in remote locations instead of in your typical office. This is so Generation Y.
Where our parents were part of a generation of rejecting the norms of society through protest, and their parents (The Greatest Generation) were strong workers who came out of the recession and went straight into WWII we haven’t done anything yet to compare to either of them. However, with a lot of pressure from the past generations we will surely make our mark eventually. That mark could possibly financially stimulating our economy and cleaning up our environment. Only time will tell.
History of the “Koofer”
We know Koofers.com is the place to go for social studying online, but where did the name come from? For that answer we need to go back to the 1940’s in Blacksburg, VA at Virginia Tech. The term “Koofers” originated from the “coffers” in which the materials were often stored, and has been commonly been used to reference past exams, quizzes, and study guides. Koofers.com expands on the concept by including any historical academic information that serves the needs of university students and instructors. There have been many variations in the spelling (coofer, cofer, kuffer, cuffer, etc.) but K-O-O-F-E-R is now the only used spelling these days.
Many Greek organizations and student groups at universities keep these files to share with each other and incoming new members. It’s the most basic style of data archiving, and if you read enough university bylaws you’ll know that they are not violating any honor codes. In fact, many student groups out there have formed just to keep their school’s test banks organized, protected, and readily available for free or sometimes at a small price just for printing. At the University of Maryland the American Society of Civil Engineers has created their own test bank. They state on their website that “[this] semester, we’ve digitized the ASCE Test Bank. We will print out old exams in the lounge at 5 cents a page (to cover ink/paper costs). To use the Test Bank, you must have paid dues and submitted at least 3 old exams to the Test Bank this semester. For information about dues and membership, visit the Membership page.” At Kansas State the Department of Mathematics actually provides their students with electronic copies of old tests.
So whether it is an actual passed down paper exam, a student group providing copy services for their archives at a minimal cost, or a department of the university providing them on their website, it is what it is. It’s a way to view the past and anticipate the future.