Thursday, August 23, 2007

Class of 2011

Beloit College in Wisconsin produces a list yearly, identifying the “Mindset” of the incoming freshman class. They recently published the “Mindset List" for the Class of 2011. I just wanted to feel a little bit older after just celebrating a birthday. Most of the members of the incoming college freshman class this year were born in 1989. 1989!!! I was 14, a freshman in high school and these cats were just coming into the world. The Beloit list includes 70 items. I just pulled out a few for your enjoyment.

* What Berlin wall?

* Humvees, minus the artillery, have always been available to the public

* Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa

* Pete Rose has never played baseball

* Fox has always been a major network

* They drove their parents crazy with the Beavis and Butt-head laugh

* Smoking has never been allowed in public spaces in France

* MTV has never featured music videos

* They never saw Johnny Carson live on television

* The World Wide Web has been an online tool since they were born

* Food packaging has always included nutritional labeling

So there ya go, the night the Berlin wall was chipped away at and the people were crying for their freedom is lost on these kids. Pete Rose was banned from baseball the year they were born, for them it’s--Pete who? WWW.whatever has always existed for them, wow! Now I did do the Beavis and Butt-head laugh also, so I guess I’m not THAT much older than they are. It’s simply interesting for me as a Student Affairs professional-and I do try to be professional at work-to sit day in and day out with these guys and think about these things.

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