It seems to many that the age gap is huge between the seniors versus the freshman. The difference between an 18 year old and a 14 year old can seem like a hefty one, maturity and appearance wise. Seniors went to kindergarten in 2002, and freshman in 2005. Although, they still grew up in the same era.

“I think every class will have their differences,” senior Trystan Knapp said. “We may have watched the same TV shows, looked at a lot of the same magazines, dressed almost the same, but I think the way technology had progressed in those four years, can make a big difference on how different us seniors are from the freshmen.”

Knapp recalls the coolest technology on the market during her childhood was the Game Boy Color. Seniors Kirsten Ellard and Emily McPherson agree that LeapFrog LeapPads were pretty cool to them.

“I always wanted a V-Tech,” freshman Trinity Callis said. “It was like a game system thing. Nintendo Pictochat was also fun.”

Freshmen recall forms of game systems hitting the market for the first time, as well as the precursors to the Apple iPod/Phone success.

“I’m not quite sure,” freshman Sara Rohleder said. “But I believe iPods were starting to come out.”

Senior Summer Smith remembers how it was a privilege to have a portable CD player when she was a kid.

“I really looked up to Hilary Duff and Miley Cyrus,” Smith said. “I remember listening to both of their CD’s on my CD player, which I thought was super cool.”

“I looked up to Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, Ashley Tisdale, and Lindsay Lohan,” McPherson said.

Freshman Abigail Brungardt remembers seeing stars like Selena Gomez, and Miley Cyrus on her hit show “Hannah Montana.”

“My favorite TV shows as a kid were ‘That So Raven’, ‘Lizzie McGuire’, and ‘Even Stevens’,” senior Mattison Schlaefli said. “They were all from Disney Channel.”

Senior Jade Polifka thought of the shows Nickelodeon hosted.

“I watched ‘Teletubbies’, ‘Power Rangers’, ‘CatDog’, ‘Spongebob’, ‘Dragon Tales’,  and ‘Hey Arnold’,” Polifka said.

Freshmen looked back on similar shows, such as: “Scooby Doo”, “Powerpuff Girls” and “Drake and Josh”.

“I looked up to Amanda Bynes because of the ‘Amanda Show’,” Callis said. “Also, Miley from ‘Hannah Montana’.”

A defining mark of every generation is said to be fashion, whether it was seen on TV or worn by students themselves, the style doesn’t vary.

“Gauchos, light-up sneakers, and belly tank tops were really cool.” said McPherson.

Ellard believes turtle necks, Velcro shoes, and skorts were all the rage.

“Gaucho pants were the style in 4th grade,” Rohleder said. “Things like silly bands were kind of cool.”

Collectively, freshmen and seniors alluded to the fact that their childhoods were very different, due to advances in technology in that short time period.

“I definitely think my childhood differs from this year’s freshmen,” Schlaefli said.  “A lot of them weren’t born in the 90’s and toys and everything was so much more advanced even if it’s only a few years difference.”

17mcrees@usd489.com