I’m a boomer. A first-wave Baby Boomer, born in 1949. I’ve never liked the label, but after General Assembly I have really started to hate it. Several times in the last week someone (usually someone younger) use “boomer” or “hippie” to describe older UUs in a way that is simultaneously vague and derogatory. If I was actually in on the conversation, I might be reassured that they didn’t mean ME. But if you have ever felt labeled in this way, you know that being the exception to someone else’s stereotype is not a comfort.

Boomer. Gen X. Hipster. Treehugger. Jock. Nerd. Labels are ubiquitous and complicated. When I call myself a nerdy treehugging boomer, that’s one thing. But when someone else sneeringly uses any of those terms, it’s another. That kind of labeling forecloses on the potential of our interaction. By stereotyping, we place limits on others.

I’ve learned this in the classroom. Every semester, we need to get to know each other as co-teachers and learners. If I allow myself to be pigeonholed as a professor, old enough to be their granny, it is harder for me to learn from them. Learning from my students is what makes me an effective mentor. Many of my students are young enough to still be prisoners of labels imposed by others. We need to work to know each other beyond labels and the stereotypes they represent.

I suspect that “young adult” in UU circles may be another one of those labels.