Recently, I went out with some of my senior friends. I was probably the youngest there actually, let’s be real, I was the only Gen Z. In the middle of the conversation, they all teamed up to roast me for being Gen Z. At first, I laughed it off, but inside, I was questioning myself – being born after 2000 wasn’t my mistake, right? Just because they were born before 2000, does that automatically make them superior?

I stayed silent, lost in my thoughts. That’s when a memory flashed through my mind.

It was around 2023. I was having a conversation with a senior, just sharing some insights I had gathered from the internet about relationships. I wasn’t claiming it as the truth- just sharing a perspective. But my senior got annoyed and reacted aggressively.

“You guys -Gen Z- what’s your problem? Why do you have to define emotions and put labels on everything? Just let the feelings flow! Don’t overthink things!”

At that moment, I was so bothered by his response, but I kept talking. Then he hit me with something deeper.

“You guys are the influenced generation. You have too much exposure to the internet. You blindly believe everything some random internet stranger says and take it as reality. You create unnecessary boundaries and think that makes you strong and intellectual. But no – you’re just afraid.”

I was slightly convinced. Maybe he had a point.

After that, I learned to value emotions over facts.

Fast forward to reality – I’ve learned so much in between. The world has changed so much within just one year.

Recently, one of my favorite celebrities said in an interview that Gen Z has the healthiest relationship goals. This generation prioritizes mental health. They focus on self-care during healing phases instead of resorting to self-harm like the previous generation. They have clarity about what they want. They are mature.

It’s true. But I wanted to write about the flip side.

On average, a person faces two or three heartbreaks in life, and that’s more than enough. But Gen Z, especially late ’90s and early 2000s kids, are suffering.

We have more access, more privilege, and more options. We can be in multiple modes in relationships. Casual culture. Swiping left and right. Modern romance keeps evolving over and over again.

Yet, the human desire is still the same, right?

At the end of the day, we all just want one soul to lean on.

But because of all these modern evaluations, old-school Gen Z are the lab rats, affected by this experiment.

People face multiple heartbreaks in their early twenties, and by the time they reach the second half of their twenties, they become emotionless.

And I don’t know if that’s something to be proud of.

The casual culture, the swipe-and-dispose mentality, and the fear of deep emotional investment have left many of us numb. By the time we reach our mid-20s, multiple heartbreaks have worn us down. Many of us become emotionally detached, afraid to love deeply again.

We are the Old School Gen Z- the ones who still crave love the way our parents and grandparents had it, but are trapped in an era where relationships feel temporary. We understand the importance of boundaries, but sometimes, we wonder if we’ve built too many.

We have clarity, yes. But at what cost?