Beloit College Mindset - Class of 2014

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[quote]Most students entering college for the first time this fall—the Class of 2014—were born in 1992.

For these students, Benny Hill, Sam Kinison, Sam Walton, Bert Parks and Tony Perkins have always been dead.

1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.

2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.

3. “Go West, Young College Gradâ€

[B4UTRUST]

Just for comparison, here's the list that's relevant to me. Class of 2002. I was class of 01 in high school, but it's only a few years so it won't be that different.

The people starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1980.
They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan era, and did not know he had ever been shot.
They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.
There has only been one Pope. They can only remember one other president.
They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart, and do not remember the Cold War.
They have never feared a nuclear war. "The Day After" is a pill to them—not a movie.
They are too young to remember the Space Shuttle Challenger blowing up.
Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
They never had a polio shot, and likely, do not know what it is.
Bottle caps have not always been screw off, but have always been plastic. They have no idea what a pull top can looks like.
Atari pre-dates them, as do vinyl albums.
The expression "you sound like a broken record" means nothing to them.
They have never owned a record player.
They have likely never played Pac Man, and have never heard of "Pong."
Star Wars looks very fake to them, and the special effects are pathetic.
There have always been red M&Ms, and blue ones are not new. What do you mean there used to be beige ones?
They may never have heard of an 8-track, and chances are they've never heard or seen one.
The compact disc was introduced when they were one year old.
As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 32 cents.
They have always had an answering machine.
Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black & white TV.
They have always had cable.
There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what Beta is.
They cannot fathom what it was like not having a remote control.
They were born the year Walkmen were introduced by Sony.
Roller-skating has always meant in-line for them.
"The Tonight Show" has always been with Jay Leno.
They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.
Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.
They have never seen Larry Bird play, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a football player.
They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI and WWII or even the Civil War.
They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.
They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
They don't know who Mork was, or where he was from.
They never heard the terms "Where's the Beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel" or "De plane, de plane!"
They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. is.
The Titanic was found? I thought we always knew where it was.
Michael Jackson has always been white.
Kansas, Boston, Chicago, America, and Alabama are all places—not music groups.
McDonald's never came in Styrofoam containers.
There has always been MTV, and it has always included non-musical shows.

And again, I have to wonder if maybe for some reason I was just lucky to learn some of these things and to have some of them, but I can't believe people my age never knew what Atari was. Or the reality behind the term 'sound like a broken record'. I remember 28 cent stamps, I remember star wars on VHS before there were DVDs of it. I knew what 8 track was and I've seen em and heard em played. I knew what Betamax was and I remember having to manually change channels on the tv because it didn't have a remote. I remember styrofoam containers for my chicken nugget happy meals and I damn sure knew Mork of Mork and Mindy. But then again I use to watch nick-at-night damn near religiously and was a huge fan of Get Smart and all the others. Mork and Mindy, Get Smart, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Dragnet. All of em. So maybe because I grew up with the fascination of the things and the exposure to the things that my parents grew up with or were exposed to I knew more of these things than my peers.

But I can't believe that someone born in 1980 doesn't know what the hell an Atari is...

[Hadrianvs]

I was born in the late 80s and a good chunk of the second list is false for me. My parents had a Betamax*, and a record player that I used so often my favourite vinyls were worn down to uselessness. I played Pong and hated Pacman, though both of these were on an NES. I thought answering machines were for rich people until the year 2000. For the first decade of my life I only saw plastic caps on 2 liter soda bottles. Atari was my first console. Star Wars always looked awesome, and I still have the VHS special editions that someone gifted to me Christmass 1997. I never saw a compact disc until the mid-90s, at the time I thought it was new technology. I owned a Walkman and took it everywhere with me. I have seen TVs with 13 channels, and there was a time when I thought 50 channels was huge. I've had non-microwave popcorn. I have taken swims and thought about Jaws, however Universal Studios Orlando is to blame for that. I thought the movie Titanic was filmed because the discovery of the ship was recent.

The "Michael Jackson was always white" thing amuses me though. The only thing I knew about him until the early 2000s was that he was a gay singer, and half of that was wrong.


*Until well into my teen years I thought VHS was an improvement over Betamax. My parents had bought the Beta a couple of years before the VHS, so I simply assumed it was older technology.

[frigidmagi]

I was born in 1980 and most of that list is utter crap B4, the second one I mean. Also I work with a number of 19 year olds. When I point to my wrist, they tell me what time it is.

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Well at least I was right in thinking that my brother would know that stuff then. I mean some of that stuff just didn't seem right.

[Dark Silver]

Yeah...the 1980 list is almost entirely wrong when it comes to me.

go figure.

[Mayabird]

First glance, it made me feel old, but just like everyone was saying, most of that list is bull. I was college class 2006 and I remember plenty of stuff on the class of 2002 list. Never did like the beige M&Ms. What's the point when there's already brown? Polio shots are still routine. Etc etc. What a load of crap. Makes me think baby boomers just want to feel superior to their grandchildren by talking about how ignorant and stupid they are.