1991

A moment to breathe inside this craziness. Friday marks the move in of a new year of college students. This morning in our presidents opening address he told us non-mathematicians that this years college class were born in 1991. I remember 1991 very vividly. I would have just turned 11. I have a memory of walking into my parents bedroom and sitting on the bed and watching tv and wondering to myself what the next school year would be like. I had just moved the previous spring into a new school system in the middle of my 4th grade year. I hadn't been super successful at making friends and was determined to read books during all my spare time so i wouldn't have to feel lonely for my old school, old friends and the comfort of the familiar.

But summer time brought a new haircut (finally, my mother relinquished control over my hairstyles so i could DISCONTINUE the mullet), new clothes, a fresh tan (i actually tanned when i was younger) and a brand new pink and purple pencil box. 5th grade turned out to be awesome. I usually refer to it as the year i decided i would be funny. It worked.

So in the year i was coming into my own personality, taking control over some aspects of my appearance or at least starting to care about it - these freshman were just being born.

Working at a university keeps people young - at least that is what a lot of people tell me. I can see how, because no matter what years you remember vividly it's vital that you know what's going on RIGHT now in the worlds of 17-22 year olds. And you have no choice but to sing along to that new Black Eyed Peas song or tweet and use all consonants letters to send messages to others.

In the past, the time gap between when i was born and the incoming class didn't impact me much. But 1991 - that's a clear memory for me in terms of what was going on in my mind at that point in my life. The details are a bit more hazy beyond that. So it's stuck out to me this time around. Makes me feel a bit older and leaves me wondering if i'm any wiser for the extra decade that separates us, or if that's all just in my head.

As the new year starts, i'm thinking about how i'll remember this moment that made me feel a spark of maturity in my life after the next 10 years. What will i have figured out by then? Or will i still be singing songs to pop radio and blogging about trivial things?