7:02 pm - 08/26/2012
Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List, providing a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall. The creation of Beloit’s former Public Affairs Director Ron Nief and Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride, authors of The Mindset Lists of American History: From Typewriters to Text Messages, What Ten Generations of Americans Think Is Normal (John Wiley and Sons), it was originally created as a reminder to faculty to be aware of dated references. It quickly became an internationally monitored catalog of the changing worldview of each new college generation. Mindset List websites at themindsetlist.com and Beloit.edu, as well as the Mediasite webcast and their Facebook page receive more than a million visits annually.
For those who cannot comprehend that it has been 18 years since this year’s entering college students were born, they should recognize that the next four years will go even faster, confirming the authors’ belief that “generation gaps have always needed glue.”
The Mindset List for the Class of 2016
For this generation of entering college students, born in 1994, Kurt Cobain, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Richard Nixon and John Wayne Gacy have always been dead.
They should keep their eyes open for Justin Bieber or Dakota Fanning at freshman orientation.
They have always lived in cyberspace, addicted to a new generation of “electronic narcotics.”
The Biblical sources of terms such as “Forbidden Fruit,” “The writing on the wall,” “Good Samaritan,” and “The Promised Land” are unknown to most of them.
Michael Jackson’s family, not the Kennedys, constitutes “American Royalty.”
If they miss The Daily Show, they can always get their news on YouTube.
Their lives have been measured in the fundamental particles of life: bits, bytes, and bauds.
Robert De Niro is thought of as Greg Focker's long-suffering father-in-law, not as Vito Corleone or Jimmy Conway.
Bill Clinton is a senior statesman of whose presidency they have little knowledge.
They have never seen an airplane “ticket.”
On TV and in films, the ditzy dumb blonde female generally has been replaced by a couple of Dumb and Dumber males.
The paradox "too big to fail" has been, for their generation, is what "we had to destroy the village in order to save it" was for their grandparents'.
For most of their lives, maintaining relations between the U.S. and the rest of the world has been a woman’s job in the State Department.
They can’t picture people actually carrying luggage through airports rather than rolling it.
There has always been football in Jacksonville but never in Los Angeles.
Having grown up with MP3s and iPods, they never listen to music on the car radio and really have no use for radio at all.
Since they've been born, the United States has measured progress by a 2 percent jump in unemployment and a 16 cent rise in the price of a first class postage stamp.
Benjamin Braddock, having given up both a career in plastics and a relationship with Mrs. Robinson, could be their grandfather.
Their folks have never gazed with pride on a new set of bound encyclopedias on the bookshelf.
The Green Bay Packers have always celebrated with the Lambeau Leap.
Exposed bra straps have always been a fashion statement, not a wardrobe malfunction to be corrected quietly by well-meaning friends.
A significant percentage of them will enter college already displaying some hearing loss.
The Real World has always stopped being polite and started getting real on MTV.
Women have always piloted war planes and space shuttles.
White House security has never felt it necessary to wear rubber gloves when gay groups have visited.
They have lived in an era of instant stardom and self-proclaimed celebrities, famous for being famous.
Having made the acquaintance of Furby at an early age, they have expected their toy friends to do ever more unpredictable things.
Outdated icons with images of floppy discs for “save,” a telephone for “phone,” and a snail mail envelope for “mail” have oddly decorated their tablets and smart phone screens.
Star Wars has always been just a film, not a defense strategy.
They have had to incessantly remind their parents not to refer to their CDs and DVDs as “tapes.”
There have always been blue M&Ms, but no tan ones.
Along with online viewbooks, parents have always been able to check the crime stats for the colleges their kids have selected.
Newt Gingrich has always been a key figure in politics, trying to change the way America thinks about everything.
They have come to political consciousness during a time of increasing doubts about America’s future.
Billy Graham is as familiar to them as Otto Graham was to their parents.
Probably the most tribal generation in history, they despise being separated from contact with their similar-aged friends.
Stephen Breyer has always been an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Martin Lawrence has always been banned from hosting Saturday Night Live.
Slavery has always been unconstitutional in Mississippi, and Southern Baptists have always been apologizing for supporting it in the first place.
The Metropolitan Opera House in New York has always translated operas on seatback screens.
A bit of the late Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, has always existed in space.
Good music programmers are rock stars to the women of this generation, just as guitar players were for their mothers.
Gene therapy has always been an available treatment.
They were too young to enjoy the 1994 World Series, but then no one else got to enjoy it either.
The folks have always been able to grab an Aleve when the kids started giving them a migraine.
While the iconic TV series for their older siblings was the sci-fi show Lost, for them it’s Breaking Bad, a gritty crime story motivated by desperate economic circumstances.
Simba has always had trouble waiting to be King.
Before they purchase an assigned textbook, they will investigate whether it is available for rent or purchase as an e-book.
They grew up, somehow, without the benefits of Romper Room.
There has always been a World Trade Organization.
L.L. Bean hunting shoes have always been known as just plain Bean Boots.
They have always been able to see Starz on Direct TV.
Ice skating competitions have always been jumping matches.
There has always been a Santa Clause.
NBC has never shown A Wonderful Life more than twice during the holidays.
Mr. Burns has replaced J.R.Ewing as the most shot-at man on American television.
They have always enjoyed school and summer camp memories with a digital yearbook.
Herr Schindler has always had a List; Mr. Spielberg has always had an Oscar.
Selena's fans have always been in mourning.
They know many established film stars by their voices on computer-animated blockbusters.
History has always had its own channel.
Thousands have always been gathering for “million-man” demonstrations in Washington, D.C.
Television and film dramas have always risked being pulled because the story line was too close to the headlines from which they were ”ripped.”
The Twilight Zone involves vampires, not Rod Serling.
Robert Osborne has always been introducing Hollywood history on TCM.
Little Caesar has always been proclaiming “Pizza Pizza.”
They have no recollection of when Arianna Huffington was a conservative.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has always been officially recognized with clinical guidelines.
They watch television everywhere but on a television.
Pulp Fiction’s meal of a "Royale with Cheese" and an “Amos and Andy milkshake” has little or no resonance with them.
Point-and-shoot cameras are soooooo last millennium.
Despite being preferred urban gathering places, two-thirds of the independent bookstores in the United States have closed for good during their lifetimes.
Astronauts have always spent well over a year in a single space flight.
Lou Gehrig's record for most consecutive baseball games played has never stood in their lifetimes.
Genomes of living things have always been sequenced.
The Sistine Chapel ceiling has always been brighter and cleaner.
-------------
Get Off My Lawn Source
Here To Give Most Of You A Quarter-Life Crisis: The Beloit Mindset List for the Class of 2016
Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List, providing a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall. The creation of Beloit’s former Public Affairs Director Ron Nief and Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride, authors of The Mindset Lists of American History: From Typewriters to Text Messages, What Ten Generations of Americans Think Is Normal (John Wiley and Sons), it was originally created as a reminder to faculty to be aware of dated references. It quickly became an internationally monitored catalog of the changing worldview of each new college generation. Mindset List websites at themindsetlist.com and Beloit.edu, as well as the Mediasite webcast and their Facebook page receive more than a million visits annually.
For those who cannot comprehend that it has been 18 years since this year’s entering college students were born, they should recognize that the next four years will go even faster, confirming the authors’ belief that “generation gaps have always needed glue.”
The Mindset List for the Class of 2016
For this generation of entering college students, born in 1994, Kurt Cobain, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Richard Nixon and John Wayne Gacy have always been dead.
They should keep their eyes open for Justin Bieber or Dakota Fanning at freshman orientation.
They have always lived in cyberspace, addicted to a new generation of “electronic narcotics.”
The Biblical sources of terms such as “Forbidden Fruit,” “The writing on the wall,” “Good Samaritan,” and “The Promised Land” are unknown to most of them.
Michael Jackson’s family, not the Kennedys, constitutes “American Royalty.”
If they miss The Daily Show, they can always get their news on YouTube.
Their lives have been measured in the fundamental particles of life: bits, bytes, and bauds.
Robert De Niro is thought of as Greg Focker's long-suffering father-in-law, not as Vito Corleone or Jimmy Conway.
Bill Clinton is a senior statesman of whose presidency they have little knowledge.
They have never seen an airplane “ticket.”
On TV and in films, the ditzy dumb blonde female generally has been replaced by a couple of Dumb and Dumber males.
The paradox "too big to fail" has been, for their generation, is what "we had to destroy the village in order to save it" was for their grandparents'.
For most of their lives, maintaining relations between the U.S. and the rest of the world has been a woman’s job in the State Department.
They can’t picture people actually carrying luggage through airports rather than rolling it.
There has always been football in Jacksonville but never in Los Angeles.
Having grown up with MP3s and iPods, they never listen to music on the car radio and really have no use for radio at all.
Since they've been born, the United States has measured progress by a 2 percent jump in unemployment and a 16 cent rise in the price of a first class postage stamp.
Benjamin Braddock, having given up both a career in plastics and a relationship with Mrs. Robinson, could be their grandfather.
Their folks have never gazed with pride on a new set of bound encyclopedias on the bookshelf.
The Green Bay Packers have always celebrated with the Lambeau Leap.
Exposed bra straps have always been a fashion statement, not a wardrobe malfunction to be corrected quietly by well-meaning friends.
A significant percentage of them will enter college already displaying some hearing loss.
The Real World has always stopped being polite and started getting real on MTV.
Women have always piloted war planes and space shuttles.
White House security has never felt it necessary to wear rubber gloves when gay groups have visited.
They have lived in an era of instant stardom and self-proclaimed celebrities, famous for being famous.
Having made the acquaintance of Furby at an early age, they have expected their toy friends to do ever more unpredictable things.
Outdated icons with images of floppy discs for “save,” a telephone for “phone,” and a snail mail envelope for “mail” have oddly decorated their tablets and smart phone screens.
Star Wars has always been just a film, not a defense strategy.
They have had to incessantly remind their parents not to refer to their CDs and DVDs as “tapes.”
There have always been blue M&Ms, but no tan ones.
Along with online viewbooks, parents have always been able to check the crime stats for the colleges their kids have selected.
Newt Gingrich has always been a key figure in politics, trying to change the way America thinks about everything.
They have come to political consciousness during a time of increasing doubts about America’s future.
Billy Graham is as familiar to them as Otto Graham was to their parents.
Probably the most tribal generation in history, they despise being separated from contact with their similar-aged friends.
Stephen Breyer has always been an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Martin Lawrence has always been banned from hosting Saturday Night Live.
Slavery has always been unconstitutional in Mississippi, and Southern Baptists have always been apologizing for supporting it in the first place.
The Metropolitan Opera House in New York has always translated operas on seatback screens.
A bit of the late Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, has always existed in space.
Good music programmers are rock stars to the women of this generation, just as guitar players were for their mothers.
Gene therapy has always been an available treatment.
They were too young to enjoy the 1994 World Series, but then no one else got to enjoy it either.
The folks have always been able to grab an Aleve when the kids started giving them a migraine.
While the iconic TV series for their older siblings was the sci-fi show Lost, for them it’s Breaking Bad, a gritty crime story motivated by desperate economic circumstances.
Simba has always had trouble waiting to be King.
Before they purchase an assigned textbook, they will investigate whether it is available for rent or purchase as an e-book.
They grew up, somehow, without the benefits of Romper Room.
There has always been a World Trade Organization.
L.L. Bean hunting shoes have always been known as just plain Bean Boots.
They have always been able to see Starz on Direct TV.
Ice skating competitions have always been jumping matches.
There has always been a Santa Clause.
NBC has never shown A Wonderful Life more than twice during the holidays.
Mr. Burns has replaced J.R.Ewing as the most shot-at man on American television.
They have always enjoyed school and summer camp memories with a digital yearbook.
Herr Schindler has always had a List; Mr. Spielberg has always had an Oscar.
Selena's fans have always been in mourning.
They know many established film stars by their voices on computer-animated blockbusters.
History has always had its own channel.
Thousands have always been gathering for “million-man” demonstrations in Washington, D.C.
Television and film dramas have always risked being pulled because the story line was too close to the headlines from which they were ”ripped.”
The Twilight Zone involves vampires, not Rod Serling.
Robert Osborne has always been introducing Hollywood history on TCM.
Little Caesar has always been proclaiming “Pizza Pizza.”
They have no recollection of when Arianna Huffington was a conservative.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has always been officially recognized with clinical guidelines.
They watch television everywhere but on a television.
Pulp Fiction’s meal of a "Royale with Cheese" and an “Amos and Andy milkshake” has little or no resonance with them.
Point-and-shoot cameras are soooooo last millennium.
Despite being preferred urban gathering places, two-thirds of the independent bookstores in the United States have closed for good during their lifetimes.
Astronauts have always spent well over a year in a single space flight.
Lou Gehrig's record for most consecutive baseball games played has never stood in their lifetimes.
Genomes of living things have always been sequenced.
The Sistine Chapel ceiling has always been brighter and cleaner.
-------------
Get Off My Lawn Source
this shit is going way too fast. I feel like I just finished high school. what the hell.
Just turned 26...it wasn't so bad. I still have no idea what I want to do, I'm still working the same part time job, and I'm definitely not going to go to grad school - but things just feel better. I think 25 was the big hurdle in my mind, the whole quarter-century thing, but 26 isn't so bad. If I think about it too hard, I can still feel a what-have-i-done-with-my-life panic, but that's not the default setting anymore, and I know I'm lucky to have what I do have, so...
It's getting to the point that I will watch shows like Basketball Wives and totally understand how/why those women turned to the lives they did. What's worse is that I've still got 3 years till 25 so I'll be dealing with this for awhile lol
Edited at 2012-08-27 12:03 am (UTC)
I think our generation has that feeling across the board.
Edited at 2012-08-27 12:25 am (UTC)
http://www.cracked.com/article_1965
Edited at 2012-08-27 12:48 am (UTC)
Wrong to want to live rather than exist in a job that makes me cranky, horrible and thinking the world is full of lazy, addicted assholes who'll fuck you over if it meant they were allowed to possibly win.
/feelings times a million
Also:
There have always been blue M&Ms, but no tan ones.
LOL.
<3 I miss it.
Now it's hard to get kids OUTSIDE. Although my cousin bought a Wii for her and her 4 year old so that they had something to do on lazy days, but they haven't even opened it. I still have hope!!!
God, summers were awesome.
And we were okay with this! Most people these days can't go 5 minutes without checking in with people. I just don't understand that.
And I agree. My life would've sucked so bad with Facebook, etc. when I was younger.
when i was in high school, texting just started to become this big thing and then myspace came along like my sophomore year. even then it wasn't bad. i'm so glad it wasn't around when i was 11.
Edited at 2012-08-26 11:57 pm (UTC)
my little brother has had a fb since he was in 8th grade just D:
???????????????????????????????
And I'm still pissed they got rid of the tan M&M! lol
Slavery has always been unconstitutional in Mississippi, and Southern Baptists have always been apologizing for supporting it in the first place.
Im a black chick with a 3.0 + gpa
I haven't gotten shit in scholarships and had to pay out of savings like everyone else.
da fuq are we doing going to college?
this sum serious bull.
so much for trying to get my undergrad without loans >___>
I've gotten shit in scholarships and I have a 3.0+gpa as well, and I don't even get half decent loans because my father made too much last year, right before he got laid off.
Wishing I gave myself a few years to think about it instead of jumping into uni because that's what you're expected to do.
However, I wish I had talked to someone who had a degree in money, vs, the students who were working at my fin aid office during my first two years at the first college. There's no savings because they told me the exact amount to take out my student loans and then there was a cut or something and there would be scrambling to cover a grand or more that wasn't covered with the loan.
My college has been on strikes (on and off) for two years along with many other State colleges in the country 'cause the education system is too expensive, and it's cheaper than the US.
Edited at 2012-08-27 08:31 pm (UTC)
yeah that killed things pretty fast
I realized not too long ago that I was slowly morphing into my mother. Even today, I was thinking "what do I have to do to get a responsible babysitter, one like I was when I was that age" and then realized that I'm old enough to be this girl's SISTER. 23 and 17 aren't that far apart, but I think like I'm 30.
I saw a couple girls who couldn't have been older than 8 smashing some mirrors on the street the other day and I had the extreme urge to run out, take them by the shirts and have them lead me home so I could let their mom know what they were doing. I am an elderly woman, I guess.
Honestly, it was the rise of all those super sweet sugar lattes like that Vanilla Bean frappe that became appealing to middle and high school kids. I remember being in HS and members of my swim team getting starbucks after practice every morning.
Edited at 2012-08-26 11:31 pm (UTC)
Parenting FAIL.
You know that voice he has when someone says something nice about him.