things that change

I realized the other day, that my freshmen students were between the ages of 9 and 10 when the WTC towers were attacked 5 years ago. That isn't very old... 4th grade. Granted, I was just freshly 19 on the day of the attack, but it happened at such a crucial time in my life and definitely had a huge impact on who I became during my college years. For me, living in a time of war is a new development, though I do have vague memories of watching news reports from operation dessert storm. But for my students, being a country at war has been the reality for about 1/3 of their lives, and it doesn't seem like we'll be able to get out any time soon.

It just makes me think -- the attacks of 9/11 changed me. But my students? The world around them changed while they were in the early stages of becoming who they will be. Even now, as freshmen in high school, they are still a few years (or more) away from being rooted into an identity. While I wittnessed a culture and world change, it may almost seem like the world has always been this way to them. Just like I remember the Berlin Wall coming down when I was in elementary school, I don't really remember what the world was like while the wall still stood. Or before George Bush Sr. was president. Or name any other thing that happened in the late 80s.

It's interesting, I think. Enough that I thought it was worth writing about.