10 things this fall’s incoming college freshmen have never seen in their lifetimes

As the summer winds down, parents and their incoming college freshmen are preparing for move-in days across the state of Maine — at UMaine in Orono, it’ll be Aug. 28, while down at the University of Southern Maine, it’ll be Aug. 29, for instance.

University of Maine first-year students move their belongings into Gannett Hall on the Orono campus in this file photo. (BDN photo by Gabor Degre)

University of Maine first-year students move their belongings into Gannett Hall on the Orono campus in this file photo. (BDN photo by Gabor Degre)

And every year around this time, Wisconsin’s Beloit College releases what it calls its “Mindset List,” or a list of things the latest class of first-year students have — and haven’t — experienced in their lifetimes.

This year’s traditional freshmen were born around 1997, and probably weren’t retaining vivid memories until around 2000.

They’ve grown up in households where video game consoles first belonged to their parents and people have always owned cellphones. They almost certainly don’t remember ever seeing the New England Patriots have a losing record unless they were really cognizant of sports details at the age of 2 or 3.

The following list, as first reported by Inside Higher Ed, represents 10 of the things most members of the incoming Class of 2019 have never personally witnessed in their lifetimes:

  • A car industry that isn’t mass producing hybrid automobiles.
  • The need to lick a U.S. postage stamp to get it to stick.
  • Princess Diana, Mother Theresa or the Notorious B.I.G. alive.
  • Comedy Central without new episodes of “South Park.”
  • Washington National Airport not named after Ronald Reagan.
  • A Ben & Jerry’s flavor list that didn’t include Phish Food.
  • An NFL team called the Houston Oilers.
  • A big screen movie called “The Lion King” — although a Broadway show by that name has been running their entire lives.
  • The New York Times with black and white photos on the cover.
  • A Major League Baseball season without interleague play.

If this list doesn’t make you feel old, wait until we put together the list of things this fall’s high school freshmen have never experienced in their lifetimes…