Age 19 to 25 in Phoenix, Arizona


Like everyone, I knew everything about everything when I was 18. And then I turned 19, the year I moved to Phoenix, and it's been all downhill since then. And I have a special fascination for people between the ages of 19 and 25, and today I want to time-travel to that time for me, and also to a time when I was reintroduced to being that age. We have to start in 1977. Time-travel with me.

Since I grew up in Minneapolis, my most vivid memories of 1977 was that fall, and winter. Of course I knew that it didn't snow in Phoenix, but somehow it just didn't seem real until I saw it for myself. It's November as I write this, and I still marvel. I was about as green as a non-local could be, just out there trying to understand this miracle. My days of being a bored teenager were ending, and the more I learned more I knew that there was so much more to learn.

In 1996, when I started teaching at a private college, I was suddenly confronted with people who were 19-to-25. Well, some were older, of course, but none were younger. And I watched them go from knowing everything about everything, which they had accomplished during their last year in high school when they were 18, to being overwhelmed by how much was expected of them as adults. My heart went out to them, and it still does to this day.

I taught for about fifteen years, and every semester, while I got older, my students never did. They were always the 19-to-25 crowd. And so you could say that I've had a special advantage understanding these people, not really because I have much memory of my 19-to-25 years, but because I saw them, over and over and over. That's one of the strange things about being a teacher, your students never get older, but you do. Actually from my late thirties to my late fifties most of my students just saw me as "old", and that's a good perspective to understand for someone who is, ahem, "of age". Thirty-eight seems young to me now, but for my 19-25 year-olds, it's just "old".

When you look at that picture of me at age 19, you're seeing a full-grown individual with as much brain cells as he'd ever going to have. I wasn't stupid, I was just ignorant, and there's a very big difference. My ignorance continues to grow as I realize how much left I have to learn, but I'm patient with myself, the way that I wanted to be with my students.

A very wise friend of mine suggested that I always picture "Student Driver" on all of the cars going by, especially the ones who seem to be confused. I picture "Student Driver" on everyone, all of the time, and I'm a Student Driver, too.

It was all so much easier when I was 18, but I'm enjoying the journey. Thank you for traveling along with me. So much left to see, so much left to learn!
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