This year's college Freshman were mostly born in the year 1997. Beloit College in Wisconsin put together it's annual "Mindset List." What they found was that the world our college Freshmen haved lived in has no memory of the world I grew up in. Here's the list of things we don't have in common.

  • Princess Diana and Mother Teresa had passed away long before most of our freshmen were born. I remember the day we lost Princess Diana and how the country mourned for her.
  • They've never known a world without hybrid cars. I'm still scared of Hybrid cars.
  • They've never known a world without SOUTH PARK and HARRY POTTER. My SOUTHPARK was Ren & Stimpy...My witch was Samantha on Bewitched. Do they even watch old re runs?  My guess is..they couldn't sit through the bad effects.
  • They've never licked a postage stamp. Not just because they don't mail anything, simply because lickable stamps have been in existence since they've been around. Does anyone else remember having to send out invitations and licking five thousand stamps that made you sick?
  • Googling....Yes Googling.  They've been able to Google since they've been able to use a computer.  I remember only the "smart" kids were chosen for computer class....blue screens and this equals that....My first experience with a real computer was my freshman year and I was using a MacIntosh in computer lab, typing scripts for my newscasts for the campus television station. I loved it!
  • Wi-Fi!   I had to learn how to use it...My kids would have to learn how to live without it....Impossible. Try dial up...yeah...That will send their heads spinning.
  • HDTV.  I remember television antenna's, dial on/off switches. I remember when it took a while for the television to 'warm up.'
That of course means they've never known life without a smart phone...They'll never know what it feels like to have a "party line" home phone, where the whole neighborhood listens to your conversation, and they'll probably never EVER use a typewriter.  I think I'm going to go watch some re runs of Bewitched.

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