Returning to the campus in the fall always comes with many firsts, and every year a new class steps into the role of the oldest class, with infinite wisdom and age to share with the younger classes. Those of us who were born in 2002 and 2003 are now the oldest ones on campus. Intrinsic in that, is the reality that those just joining us in the first-year class were born in 2005 and 2006. I hadn’t thought yet about how young the student body felt until I was getting contact information from a sophomore to correspond about a class project, he put his phone to mine and it shared contact information. One day later, I met a fellow Mainer who might need a ride home at some point, he did the same thing. A picture serendipitously pops up of me being silly that I don’t remember making my contact photo.
Shortly thereafter, my mother sent me a photo of my little brother at his high school senior celebration and I was shocked to remember that he was no longer four years old, giggling and fighting with his older sisters. I realized that he was closer to the age of most Colby students than I was. I decided to interview people on campus to hear about their digital habits. I interviewed ten people in the spa midday on a Thursday. Through my extremely scientific method, I found a gap in the 18 year olds and 22 year olds. We existed on the cusp of a technological change. Whereas the seniors remember the flip phone and burning CDs, freshmen didn’t know what burning a CD was. While in the next ten years of our lives, this gap may become obsolete, as we watch Generation Alpha grow up to become the next generation of college students, we’ll have more in common with each other than we thought. For now, the differences are stark.
Men were not inclined to answer my question about whether or not they fantasize about being asked what they are listening to. Every single man maintained that he had not thought about that. Women, on the other hand, often in a quiet voice, told me that they did indeed think about being approached and asked what song they were listening to. I am more inclined to believe the women in this scenario: everyone lies awake at night thinking about this.
While women were less likely to want to be interviewed or recorded, oftentimes women didn’t have headphones in, which made it hard to ask them if they wanted to tell me what they were listening to. However, many women I approached looked hesitant to agree to an interview. I quickly clarified that they did not need to do an interview with me. Even though they appeared to feel uncomfortable and like they needed to come with me. I again quickly said they didn’t need to, and without fail, they gave me a knowing smile, as though they were thanking me for sparing them, and went back to their work.
One student Kyle `26 told me that he only had his headphones in but was choosing a song when I approached him. He told me he would probably have played something by Zach Bryan if I had just given him a few more seconds. Nathaniel `28 told me he was listening to “Love Story” by Taylor Swift. I cheered, only for him to follow up saying it was the only Taylor Swift song he knew. Does the new generation not have the proper reverence for the queen of pop? I have no idea, he was the only person listening to Taylor Swift that I interviewed.
Finally, this begs the question, has the spa died? Midday on Thursday would usually be bumping with music, people crossing through to walk to class, and sitting in the seating area eating, working, and socializing. Truthfully, it seemed quiet compared to past years. So where are all the indie students with wire headphones who are desperate to tell me what they’re listening to? One person was honest with me, telling me if she was able to fabricate this scenario in order to impress the person asking, she’d look in her Spotify to find a song she thought other people wouldn’t know. Overall, I saw a social and talkative student body, eager to talk to me about their music, or to their friends without their headphones in.
Colby’s Spa Midday on a Thursday Playlist:
Burn, Burn, Burn by Zach Bryan
Silence with the noise cancelling function on
Love Story by Taylor Swift
Massive by Drake
Drops of Jupiter by Train
Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison
Where Is My Mind by the Pixies
Alaska by Maggie Rogers
~ Hannah Perfetti `25
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