The Class of 2026
The ubiquitous Internet "class of 2006" email got me to thinking about the class of 2026 (which is when my newborn son Zachary will graduate).
The list the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin might put together in 2026 :

The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 2004.

They weren't yet born when the first two Persian Gulf Wars were waged and were too young to recall much of the second two.
They are too young to remember any of the space shuttles blowing up.
They know as much about Sept. 11th as they do Antietam.
'It's da bomb' has always been a bad thing.
Tiananmen Square means the same thing to them as Times Square and Piccadilly Circus.
Most have never seen a TV program you couldn't rewind.
They know as much about the difference between George Bush and George W. Bush as they know about John Adams and John Q. Adams.
They've never had to put gasoline into a car.
They've never used a videotape, audio tape, or a roll of film.
Honda has been the number 1 car maker in America for most of their lives.
The hardest lawn mowing work they've ever done is pressing 'start' on the robot.
They've never heard of 'long distance charges'.
They don't know who Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods were.
They've never seen a tattoo you couldn't download a new picture to (or one that couldn't be made to tell the time).
Barring accidents, most have a life expectancy of approximately forever.
Avatar, yotta, and nano have always been common everyday words.

And lastly:
Madonna is that California governor who got into trouble for flashing the King of England.

(copyright 2003) Douglas Bishop

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