I can’t recall the exact moment I noticed a difference, but I was just as surprised as the next person when I discovered the new person Miley Cyrus has become. The complete 180-degree change she has undergone is similar to the same stage many young, college-aged people are currently at.

Miley’s transformation embodies a certain fearlessness most millennials lack when it comes to figuring out who they are.

I’m certainly not commending or defending Miley, because I would also agree that many of her recent decisions have been insensitive. For instance, her use of backup dancers, who were all African-American women, at the Video Music Awards as literal props and caricatures, and her explanation that she wants to make music that “sounds black” were completely off-base.

Miley has been heavily criticized by the public and the media. Mika Brzezinski, a co-host on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” ranted about the scandalous performance calling it “disgusting,” and even stated that, “Cyrus is obviously deeply troubled, deeply disturbed.” Critics also assert that her raunchiness and hypersexuality set a poor example to the same children who were fans of “Hannah Montana.”

Many proclaim that Miley Cyrus is simply acting out in a desperate attempt to show the world that she is not the little girl she once was on Disney Channel. But it seems that she is shedding the mold of whom she was perceived to be with personal certainty.

She has embraced the task of self-discovery and coming into her own, an area where many millennials falter.

As young people advance in life, most end up losing their personal identity rather than accepting the changes that come along with growing up and stepping into adulthood such as being self-reliant and juggling multiple responsibilities. They either hold on to the same mindset they had as a child, become someone they’re not or, even worse, burn out.

We see it all the time right here on our own college campus, with friends whom we met during Welcome Week who become total strangers by Orange Central in October. Or we see it in childhood friends who go off to their respective schools, but by the time you reunite for the holidays, you barely know whom this person is. College and life itself have a way of changing people – and not always in a way that we think is for the best.

Look at former child stars Amanda Bynes and Nick Cannon. Both started practically on the same path, as young comedians from Nickelodeon. Fast forward to nearly a decade later and the two have headed in completely opposite directions. It seems that Bynes is speeding down the same disappointing path similar to Lindsay Lohan, while Cannon continues to grow his brand.

Like most people, I could take or leave this new Miley Cyrus, as I’m not much interested in her music or personal life. But one interesting point of her transformation to observe as a young person is the fearlessness that accompanied it. Has she lost her values or negatively influenced her younger fans in the process? Not necessarily.

Criticism and dissatisfaction naturally come with the territory of being an individual.

I’m surely not advising anyone to take after Miley and go ahead making their own “dancing” videos – I refuse to continue the use of the word “twerk” – and engage in reckless behaviors, but why not celebrate your growth as an individual? At the end of the day, she stands in the same position as millennials, as we all navigate through life.

Nina Rodgers is a sophomore sociology major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at nmrodger@syr.edu.

Published on September 10, 2013 at 1:07 am