I’m old. And that doesn’t bode well for most of you.

Since I still fall below the average age of Democrat readers, you folks might just fit into the “very old” category.

Don’t be offended; I’m gaining ground fast.

A quick glance at a college freshman or two last weekend reminded me that I’m becoming more like you guys and less like the college students with whom I once associated.

That feeling was affirmed when I saw The Mindset List.

The annual list — published by college professors at Beloit College for the last 13 years — provides insight into the minds of college freshman for us old fogies.

The list uses social, cultural and political references to explain what this year’s college freshman don’t know.

The unintended message for the rest of us is simple — we are old.

Freshman starting college this fall will be the class of 2015.

My favorite shocking realizations quoted from The Mindset List for their class were:

– There has always been an Internet ramp onto the information highway.

– Amazon has never been just a river in South America.

– O.J. Simpson has always been looking for the killers of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

– Their classmates could include the Dilley Sextuplets.

The list — www.beloit.edu/mindset — includes 75 items, all of which are pretty funny. Beloit College creates a new list each year, and a glance at a few previous lists suggests I’ve been old for a while.

For instance, look at the students who graduated in May and are now working jobs among us. That list says:

– “Off the hook” has never had anything to do with a telephone.

– They never “rolled down” a car window.

– MTV has never featured music videos.

– Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa.

College faculty — who must constantly feel simply ancient — started the list “as a witty way of saying to faculty colleagues ‘watch your references,’” the school’s website says.

The list has grown in popularity year after year, since most of us, it seems, are simply fascinated with what those young-ins don’t know and haven’t experienced.

Sometime after age 27, at least for me, daily life began to include at least one small, startling realization that I’m not getting any younger.

But for those starting college this month, those old-age days must seem light years away.

As for me, I’ll continue to find my comfort in all of you who are older than me.

After all, the Beloit Mindset List about my class is probably shocking to you. The list makers said this about my class:

– They never heard Walter Cronkite suggest that “That’s the way it is.”

– They are the first generation to be born into Luvs, Huggies and Pampers.

– The moonwalk is a Michael Jackson dance step, not a Neil Armstrong giant step.

– They have no idea how big a breadbox is.

“Old” is a relative term, you see. But no matter what your definition may be, I think we can agree, we are getting there faster than we’d like.

Julie Cooper is the managing editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3551 or julie.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.