Ah, the class of 2012. These freshmen entering your college for the first time were probably born in 1990, when Windows 3.0 for the personal computer was making the rounds and when colleges no longer needed to “trumpet the fact that residence halls are wired.” These students have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego and don’t know what it’s like to stop and ask directions, not when they have access to a GPS.
These are students who don’t know what it’s like to get a flat tire fixed at a gas station, but they do know they can buy a cappuccino at that same station. For them, it’s a world where “WWW” never stood for World Wide Wrestling. It’s a world where certain films have always been rated “NC-17” not “X,” or when Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Henson and Freddy Krueger have always been dead.
Yes, it’s time for the College Mindset List, released annually by Beloit College in Wisconsin. The brainchild of Beloit’s Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride and Public Affairs Director Ron Nief, this is the 12th edition that “provides a look at the cultural touchstones that have shaped the lives of students entering college for the first time.”
You can access the complete list here. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/cr80news-4.gif)
