Story Idea: Mindset List now online

I love this list.

The Mindset List is a collection of the way the incoming freshman class of college sees things. The list is assembled at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisc. (FYI, just so you know I have long enjoyed this list. But right now my son is a 2nd year student at Beloit.)

For example for the class of 2013:

  • They have never used a card catalog to find a book.
  • Tattoos have always been very chic and highly visible.
  • Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream has always been a flavor choice.
  • They have never had to “shake down” an oral thermometer.
  • Condoms have always been advertised on television.
  • They have always been able to read books on an electronic screen.
  • “Womyn” and “waitperson” have always been in the dictionary.
  • There has always been blue Jell-O.

For those of us who had to teach these students, it offers an insight into how they think and how they perceive the world.

Just think about how many times j-profs ask their students, "Who reads a newspaper every day?" Usually 90% of the hands go up.

Then when the question is changed to, "How many read a paper newspaper everyday? That is one that is not online?" Almost all the hands remain down.

Times and perceptions change. This list has always helped me better understand those changes.

BTW, the list goes back to the class of 2002.