Predicting the future is difficult but not impossible. Part of my approach is to watch the youth. They shape the future. Look at their trends and you will be able to say something about the future. As I said before I am proud of all of my students. Let me introduce you to another set of them.
Gwensley Paula is a professional dancer in Europe and travels a lot. He was my student and was very smart but he was not motivated and happy. One day I saw him dance in a talent reality show Curastars on television. Than I knew why he was not happy. He went on to win the overall show. Soon after that he was in my office. He told me that he had two overs to study dance in the Netherlands. He asked me for advice. It was a no brainer. Now he is always happy.
Axel Pikero was disciplined student always present and very quite. I did not know who he was, Till he won the biggest music festival on the island: Festival di Tumba. Soon after that he told me that he was leaving to study music in the Netherlands. Now he is back and is the leader of one of the best bands on the island "Dreams".
Johanna Curiel was always looking for something extra to do. Suddenly she presented in the local theatre a real movie called "Perla maldita". A very good movie on the topic of drugs trafficking. After many years I found out she was working as a consultant for an international consulting firm also based in Curacao.
Tamara Nivillac now sings with Izaline Calister was a student who had a lot of fun but was not happy. Suddenly she won the first edition of the reality show Curacao Talents in 2003. Now she has a successful career as a singer. She is based in the Netherlands and often visits the island.
What is the message these students tell us. That there is a lot of musical talent among our youth. That there is no infrastructure on the island to develop these talents. That they are forced to study something that is not their calling. And also because their parents and society prefer that they become accountants or something like that. And that they need to leave the island to pursue their dream and become successful. We must create the conditions for these talents to develop here. It is a good thing that we have this music school at Emmastad and this theatre school in the K-Zone Otrabands, run by Segni Bernadina.
These young people are part of the Gen Y and soon Z. Some are older and are part of the Gen X.
"1965-79 Generation X.
Brought up by a bunch of would-be hippies, they swung the other way and tended to a more detached view of the world.
Their influences were MTV, small families, AIDS and higher education than their parents. Sex had been liberated by the sexual revolution and they were not inclined to commitment.
So only now are we seeing them start to marry, in their 30s and far later than any generation before them. Many have only recently left home.
1980-97 Generation Y.
These are today's teens and 20s. Among them is a recklessness that has caused all the King Street and 2am lock-out troubles.
If you think they come from another planet, you're right. Computers were mother's milk, the internet opened up the world, mobile phones and SMS can pull them into temporary groups.
So a few text messages can cause a rave party of thousands to mushroom - or a riot to ignite.
It can also cause viral marketing to blaze around the world in hours. Look at the Barak Obama campaign - built on the power of internet communications and small on-line donations by millions.
Living at home, Gen Y'ers get to keep any money they make and spend it on what they want. In any case the housing market is so tight that what's the point of even looking? The empty-nest syndrome is starting to dwindle.
Finally to Generation Z - our rug-rats born since 1998.
They have entered a world of information overload, bombarded day and night. You'd better believe that their filters are hepa-fine, allowing only very well-targeted messages to pass through.
Family is a loose definition to them - so many of their school friends come from single or same-sex families. The parents are older and comfortably affluent, but with big financial commitments.
Everybody rushes to work and school in the morning and home at night. Junior has more time to study consumerism than the parents, so their influence in buying decisions is powerful.
The family works as a unit and relates on an adult level. It's like no one has time or space for a childhood.
Marketers have to communicate to these very different groups. And the one message or medium can rarely cover them all." (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/businessold/it-pays-to-know-your-xyz/story-e6frfh4f-1111116583717, Accessed on 11 Januray 2013)
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