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Perspective: It's a different world, kid!

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If you're eighteen years old, you've never shared the Earth with the late Katherine Hepburn or Johnny Cash.

Text speak has always been your second, maybe your third, language.

George W. Bush has always said, "Mission Accomplished," but he wasn't talking about your birth. China has always been in outer space, but the Columbia has always been lost and the Concorde has never flown.

They’ve never made the old back-wheel drive Volkswagen Beetles, and Toyota has always sold more cars in the United States than any other brand other than Ford and GM.

If you’ve flown commercial as an 18-year-old, there’s always been a distinct possibility that a Sky Marshal was in the air with you.

A body builder has always been a governor of our most populous state. And D.N.C. has never meant just Democratic National Committee, but Do Not Call.

If you're over 18, and all this change upsets you, well, remember that the more things change, the more they stay the same. But if you believe that, I've got some seaside property in North Dakota to sell you.

Tom McBride is co-author of the annual Beloit College Mindset List. He is a specialist in Shakespeare. For 42 years he taught at Beloit, where he won an award for excellence in teaching. He also coordinated the Mackey Distinguished Writers' Program and the First Year Initiatives Program.