FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
America Gonzalez, who has attended multiple workshops with the Compton Girls Club, is photographed at home in Sun Valley on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
The Compton Girls Club is the after-school program you wish you’d had as a teen
LOS ANGELES Kukim Vazquez, a 17-year-old high school senior from Compton, started baking when she was in fifth grade and has spent the last few years watching YouTube tutorials and making more cookies and cupcakes than her friends and family are able to consume.
After a cousin encouraged her to get on Instagram to promote her baking business, she came across a jewelry-making workshop hosted by the Compton Girls Club.
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Like a lot of high school students, Vazquez had been struggling during the pandemic: there was no more French club, no gymnastics, no tutoring kids after school. Signing up for the sessions seemed better than scrolling on her phone all day.
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First, she learning how to make earrings over Zoom, then she signed up for a business incubator. Over three weekends, she and 10 other teens learned the basics of starting a small business. During a final, Shark Tank-style session, participants pitched their businesses. Vazquez was excited but worried about presenting to a panel. “I get really nervous and I stutter a lot,” she recalled.
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Every generation hopes that, when it’s their turn to pass the torch of relevancy to the youth, they will handle it with poise and dignity. They’ll recognize, they hope, that teenagers, despite their more limited real-world experience, are more clear-eyed about society in some ways. The older generation anticipates that they’ll adopt the new technologies, wear the new trends and, maybe, gracefully age into the role of the wise mentor.
Millennials, in this sense, have . struggled.
As more and more Gen Z-ers come of age according to the Pew Research Center, the oldest members of the generation will turn 24 this year the online “culture war” has mainly centered around millennials refusing to move on. Corners of TikTok have become breeding grounds for millennials desperately clinging to skinny jeans, side parts and Harry Potter as styles from the ‘00s make a comeback.
Keep your skinny jeans: Here s what Gen Z actually wants from older generations msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.