There have been a lot of changes in the world since the beginning of your education as the Class of 2022. In the thirteen years from kindergarten to your senior year, you’ve changed so much. The world has changed with along you.

The past few years have been tough, but you seniors have made it through them.  You’ve dealt with school shootings (177 occurred in America between 2009 and 2019), an increase in climate change (you’ve lived through the 2 hottest years on record- 2016 and 2020), and the rise in popularity of vaping, which increased in 2010 and caused over two thousand hospitalizations, as of 2020. The mass shooting rates have become worse as a nation since it has seen a drastic increase in the past years.  However, the years haven’t been all bad. 

There have been many changes globally since 2009, the year you were in kindergarten.  The global population has increased from 6.9 billion to 7.8 billion.  There have also been 3 presidents and 4 presidential terms in the United States.  There have been a long list of changes.  , America has elected its first female vice president.  Many social injustices have come to light, for a variety of topics.  In 2015, same-sex marriage became legal throughout the United States.  There are currently 31 countries in which marriage equality is legal, and 24 of such countries enacted laws permitting it after 2009.  The Black Lives Matter movement began in 2013, organized by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi.  It has held many protests since (especially in later years), and gained a lot of support after George Floyd was killed in 2020.

It’s interesting to think that iPhones were both invented and gained significant popularity throughout your lifetime.  Thirteen years ago, the iPhone 3GS was released, only two years after the first Apple iPhone was released.  The iPad was released in 2010.  The first Apple Watch was released in 2015, when you were in fifth grade.  AirPods were released a year later.

As hard as it may be to believe, the world has experienced a lot of growth in terms of media and streaming since 2009.  Spotify was released in 2011.  This was around the time that streaming music became more popular than downloading it on an iPod, for example.  Netflix began to offer streaming in 2007 but didn’t become popular until about 2011.  This also contributed to the downfall of Blockbuster, a well-known movie rental shop, which filed for bankruptcy in 2010.  Additionally, a popular TV show called the Voice premiered in 2011, which has had over 7 million viewers on average.

It’s crazy to think that in 2009, you were in kindergarten, only about 5 years old.  If only you knew how much different life would be by the time you’re a senior.  So much has changed in the world during the past thirteen years of your life. We can’t wait to see what else changes now that you’re truly out in it.