Having just witnessed the impact of the “Great Recession,” today’s young people, and college students in particular, understand that the old model for finding and sustaining gainful employment or the best new and hot business opportunities doesn’t hold up anymore. They know that their future success will be largely of their own making and recognize that hard work and ingenuity are no longer optional character traits. Rather, they are a necessity.

Furthermore, spurred by a greater understanding and appreciation for the emerging concept of social entrepreneurship as well as the numerous challenges facing their and future generations, young people today aren’t just fretting, they’re fighting back. Many of them are finding new and exciting ways to not only make a living, but to do it while also making a difference—locally and even worldwide.

For proof, one needs to look no further than today’s college campuses.

In a recent blog post, OnlineCollege.org profiled 20 Successful Nonprofits Started by Students. Tackling everything from feeding the homeless, providing disaster relief and combating poverty to promoting literacy, reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and providing micro-funding for small business start-ups, these young entrepreneurs are turning their idealism into action and doing it beautifully.

In fact, their considerable success is a testament to the hopeful notion that our nation’s future is in very good hands.

Sure, today’s young people may be turning the longstanding status quo of how to get the job done on its head—what with their incredible techno-savvy and demands for flexibility to enhance work-life balance—but they are getting it done, oftentimes in ways once never thought possible. And while “how” these young entrepreneurs are achieving their success is important and even groundbreaking, what’s perhaps even more inspirational is the “why.”

That’s something we can and should all take a lesson from and celebrate.