My dad, Robert Stiffen Jr, was 18 in 1980. He was living at home with his parents and two siblings in Albany and in August started attending classes at Hudson Valley. He explained how he was very nervous although he knew that he wanted to go into mechanical engineering. After two years he transferred to Suny College of Technology in Utica, however when he was 18 he had no idea that he was going to do that. In his free time he would hang out with the guys, and as my dad explained, it was all about “figuring out ways to find a girl”. My dad and his friends were very adventurous, with their favorite activities being kayaking, skiing, hunting and fishing, and wind surfing. My dad wanted to point out though that all of those activities did not include girls. Although adventurous, my dad was not rebellious and when I asked him about how much he got in trouble, he explained he didn’t really, “just the occasional speeding ticket, or being naughty at a party from too many drinks”. When I asked about college, he told me it didn’t cause him much stress, and that he was a pretty chill 18 year old. However just like me, my dad was always worried about everything. He mostly worried about finding a job in the future, and his biggest fear was being alone. I decided to ask my dad about having regrets when he was 18. He first told me he doesn’t have any, because he’s too old too. But when I asked him what his thoughts were when he was 18, he explained how he had many regrets. But he told me looking back, those shouldn’t be regrets because everything he has done is destiny and got him to where he is now. He did tell me a funny story though of when he smashed his car. He was leaving a girls house after they had just had a fight and he went straight into a brick mailbox. Back then that was a regret, but now its just a funny story. I asked him about who he looked up to when he was 18, and he said that he looked up to his father. I definitely relate to that. I then wanted to see his view on media influence over 18 year olds. He stated that just like today, the media had a big influence over 18 year olds. However, he said that back when he was 18 it was different because there wasn’t social media, which he thinks makes him better off than the 18 year olds now a days. 18 year olds are now more exposed because of the internet. He also explained how things were different because when he was looking for a girl he wasn’t just looking to have fun , he wanted to find a wife. Overall my dad sounds like being 18 was hectic but very fun and he said it was weird to look back, and also it was hard to remember his mindset back then because its different now.
