Every year Beloit College creates a “College Mindset List” for the incoming freshman class. According to the website, the list was originally created to serve as a reminder to faculty to be aware of dated references, however it quickly became a widely-shared list documenting the changing frame of reference for each new college generation.
Beloit has released a new list at the beginning of each school year in August since 1998. The list is shared with faculty and with thousands who request it.
The class of 2019 is heading to college this year, and most of them were born in 1997. Here are some of the highlights from this year’s list.
Since the class of 2019 has been alive:
1. Google has always been there, in its founding words, “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible.”
2. Hybrid automobiles have always been mass produced.
3. They have never licked a postage stamp.
4. They have grown up treating Wi-Fi as an entitlement.
5. Email has become the new “formal” communication, while texts and tweets remain enclaves for the casual.
6. Color photos have always adorned the front page of The New York Times.
7. Playhouse Disney was a place where they could play growing up.
8. Splenda has always been a sweet option in the U.S.
9. CNN has always been available en Español.
10. The Lion King has always been on Broadway.
See the full list here.
