Typically, teenagers who are among the same generation have a uniquely particular bond. It makes sense because when a like group of children are simultaneously growing up in the same world, they watch the same TV shows, eat the same snacks, play with the same toys — they even adopt similar mannerisms. But who is to say when the cut off line occurs?

Children who were born from the late ’90s until around 2002 are typically grouped together, which means NASH’s seniors are the last group of kids that made it into the generation cluster. Sorry, juniors, not all of you made the cut.

Although most of the juniors did make it into this specific generation, students coming up from NAI will not.

It needs to be said that there will always be exceptions. Some kids grew up with older siblings probably relate better to the older generation. Kids who were raised by parents who obsess over the ‘90s will certainly relate more to a ‘90s baby than someone in their own generation.

But in general, the relationship between this year’s seniors and juniors is unique. There is already a distinct difference because seniors and juniors are at clashing points of life. Juniors are in a new environment, trying their hardest to get the best grades they can, while seniors have already gone through that mess and are now preparing to move on to college.

But this year at NASH there is even more of a gap between these two groups of kids because juniors are one of the few transition generations. Teens born in 2003 to 2005 are the transition generations because they do share similarities with previous generations, but along with that, they share a fair amount of differences. Because of this, most seniors would confidently say they have more in common with the class of 2019 than the class of 2021.

This gap in generations is due to the manufacturing of new toys, new snacks and pretty much everything else. Children in elementary school are learning how to add in new ways, Disney is coming out with new shows, new books are becoming popular, and fashion trends are drastically different. The generation gap occurred not simply because older teens started saying, “You can’t sit with us.   The experience of growing up has changed, and the product of the process has changed with it.

But hey, if we all get through the year in one piece, do we really need to have a tight bond? Regardless of the the separation of generations, NASH’s juniors and seniors will always come together to show some school spirit and commiserate our way through the toughest times of the school year. And if juniors and seniors have little else in common, at least they have that.