The Class of 2012

Since today is my last weekday of ‘freedom’ before classes begin I thought it appropriate to talk about the class of 2012. This is the first time *ever* that I will be teaching freshman. I have been given the charge of teaching a “Freshman Year Experience” course for freshman that think they might want to enter the business field; some of which think they are interested in finance. Let’s hope I don’t scare them.

In preparation for teaching freshman for the first time I was led to the Beloit College Mindset List for the class of 2012. They have been putting this list together for the past 10 or so years to give professors a better idea of the frame of reference from which the entering freshman are viewing their first year at college. I find most of the list interesting, and some of it surprising. I’ll summarize a few of the points made about the class of 2012 (for those who are interested in the entire list, I include a link at the bottom of this post).

The list begins with an idea of what the newspaper headlines were focusing on at the time the students entering with the class of 2012 were born:

“Rising fuel costs were causing airlines to cut staff and flight schedules; Big Three car companies were facing declining sales and profits, and a president named Bush was increasing the number of troops in the Middle East in hopes of securing peace.”

Sound familiar? If these students picked up one of those birthday cards detailing ‘the year you were born,’ they’d probably think they were in the Twilight Zone. Then again, they may not even know what the Twilight Zone refers to.

Here’s more from the list:

“Students entering college for the first time this fall were generally born in 1990… For these students…

Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quiddich team…

GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available…

Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle…

Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappucino…

IBM has never made typewriters…

They have never been able to color a tree using a raw umber Crayola…

The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno…

Caller ID has always been available…

The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens…

98.6 F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear…”

For the entire list, click here.

The gas station happens to be my personal favorite. What’s yours?