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Neha Kaushik, Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

There’s a certain weight that comes with realizing that an era has come to an end. For me as a millennial, that moment feels especially poignant now. The world that shaped my generation is no longer the world I inhabit. I am slowly, sometimes painfully, stepping away from the culture, technology and ideals that defined me, and into a future that no longer feels entirely mine. As the millennial era draws to a close, there’s a sense of both loss and transformation in the air—an unmistakable end to the chapter I once called my own.

This isn’t about a particular story. This is about countless stories I and my fellow millennials lived coming to an end because time doesn’t stop. We come from the time of Myspace and hours spent on Yahoo Messenger, speaking to people all over the world who were found in a mutual feeling of being lost. None of us are the same anymore. Perhaps it was when we started noticing how younger generations spoke, their slang foreign to our ears, or how they seem to embrace new platforms and trends without a second thought. Or maybe it was simply the creeping realization that the world, as we knew it, had moved on—and we were left standing at the crossroads.

Millennials are often described as the generation that straddled two worlds. We grew up with VHS tapes and dial-up internet, but we also witnessed the birth of smartphones and social media. We experienced the excitement of a rapidly evolving digital landscape and, simultaneously, felt the ground shift beneath our feet as the economic realities of adulthood hit us hard. We were the dreamers and the doers, but also the generation that, in many ways, felt betrayed by a world that didn’t quite deliver on its promises.

Now, as the last vestiges of our youth slip away, there’s a certain melancholy in acknowledging that the millennial era is no longer the defining cultural force. We’re watching as Gen Z takes center stage, with their bold ideas, their unfiltered online presence and their unabashed embrace of individuality. It’s their time now, and in many ways, they are shaping the world in ways we could never have imagined. But as we step aside, there’s a deep, unspoken grief that comes with it—a sense that something we once held dear is gone.

The end of the millennial era isn’t just about age or the passing of time. It’s about the closing of a cultural chapter, one that was filled with a unique blend of hope and hardship. We were the generation that believed in the power of the internet to change the world, the ones who clung to the belief that creativity and innovation could overcome the systems that seemed stacked against us. But we were also the generation that saw those dreams tempered by reality—by economic crashes, mounting student debt and a job market that didn’t quite live up to its potential.

For many of us, there’s a sense of unfinished business. We thought we’d have more time, that our era would stretch on a little longer. But time has a way of slipping through your fingers when you’re not looking. One day, you wake up and realize that the culture that once felt like home has shifted and you’re no longer part of the conversation in the same way. You scroll through social media and see younger voices dominating the narrative, their concerns and interests taking precedence, while your own experiences feel like relics of a not-so-distant past.

This ending however, marks the beginning of a new chapter—one where we step into roles of guidance, mentorship and, yes, even reflection. We’ve faced challenges that have shaped us, but we’ve also built a resilience that will carry us forward into whatever comes next.

It’s important to remember that endings, while often painful, are also opportunities for growth. The end of our cultural dominance doesn’t erase the impact we’ve had or the experiences we’ve shared. It simply means that our role is shifting. We’re moving from the center of the stage to a more supportive position, but that doesn’t make our contributions any less meaningful. If anything, it allows us to take a step back and see the bigger picture, to understand how we fit into the broader tapestry of generations that have come before and will come after. Maybe it’s just us trying to be positive, or maybe we really do feel the optimism of this change in our bones. Perspective will define how we look at it.

We’ve left our mark, in both small and significant ways. The world may be moving on, but it’s moving forward on a path that we helped carve. So, as we stand on the threshold of change, let’s honor the end of this stage in our lives. Let’s acknowledge the complexity of our feelings—both the grief for what’s ending and the anticipation for what lies ahead. And most of all, let’s remember that, while one chapter is closing, the next one is waiting to be written.

I would be lying if I said I know how to make sense of this transformation. What matters is that we are still here and we are evolving.

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