Millennials are the most educated generation in history—yet the most financially unstable, the worst paid, and arguably the most emotionally exhausted. And this isn’t just a global narrative. In Kenya, it’s a harsh reality that wears a familiar face. We were raised on a simple promise: go to school, pass your exams, get a degree, and the world will reward you.
We swallowed that dream whole. Woke up before dawn for morning preps, battled 8-4-4 with trembling hands and hopeful hearts, sat KCPEs and KCSEs like they were tickets to freedom. We graduated, some with first class honors, only to enter a world that had moved on. A world where papers don’t open doors unless your name already carries weight. Where merit is optional, and opportunities are auctioned behind closed doors—connections is the heavyweight champion.
Millennials are a generation raised on promise, betrayed by reality, but too stubborn to give up.
So now, we carry certificates that look good in dusty folders and degrees that can’t pay rent. We’re tarmacking at 30, freelancing at 32, and still being told to “start small.” We’re surviving in a country where job opportunities are fewer than betting shops, and where rejection letters—when they come—almost feel like closure.
We’ve turned to side hustles, gigs, digital spaces, anything to stay afloat, while constantly being reminded that we’re not doing enough. All this while balancing the invisible burden of expectation. Because even when we’re broke, we’re expected to send something home. To contribute to weddings, funerals, and WhatsApp groups. To carry our siblings. To be strong. Always strong.
And in that pressure, we’re not just financially strained—we’re mentally exhausted. We are managing anxiety like it’s a full-time job. Fighting burnout before breakfast. Masking depression with memes and laughter. The truth is, many of us are barely holding it together. But we show up anyway. Because this life doesn’t allow time to fall apart.
People say money changes you. That’s not true. Money just exposes you. And what this country has done is expose a generation that did everything they were told—only to be told that they’re entitled when they ask for a return on that investment.
Even in all this, one thing about Millennials—they still rise. They still create. They still find joy in small things, still build dreams from borrowed data bundles and hope. They are not lazy—they are tired. Not lost—they were misled. And not broken—they are simply surviving in a system that sold them a dream and handed them a hustle.
And somehow, through all this, they still love. Still laugh. Still give. Still hope. And maybe that is the real education: learning to live with a cracked heart, a heavy mind, and a tired smile—but still showing up anyway.
Millennials are a generation raised on promise, betrayed by reality, but too stubborn to give up.
This hit deep. We followed the rules, gave it our all, and still got left behind. We’re not lazy or entitled—we’re just tired of surviving in a broken system. But somehow, we still show up, still give, still hope. Thank you for putting our silent struggles into words. We’re not alone.
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