Freshman move-in and orientation for the class of 2012 began on August 22, 2008. It was a different world back then.
Lady Gaga's debut album, "The Fame," hit the stores just three days earlier, to disappointing early sales. George W. Bush sat in the oval office. Britney Spears was too crazy to be good anymore, and Charlie Sheen was just a wacky former 80s star on a television show that nobody really liked.
Robert Pattinson was the kid who died in the fourth Harry Potter movie, and people hated vampire movies only because of the "Underworld" series. Larry King and Oprah both had television shows, and the Kardashians only had one.
Nobody had ever heard of Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Nicki Minaj, an iPad, Instagram, Pinterest or "Angry Birds."
A lot can change in the span of four short years, and the last four did not disappoint.
2008
Aug. 22- Welcome to College.
You were so cute and innocent and naive back then.
Sept. 13- Tina Fey does Sarah Palin
Two weeks after John McCain named Palin his running mate in the presidential election, Fey returned to Saturday Night Live for what was to be one of the most popular impersonations in SNL history, garnering nearly 6 million views online in less than a week.
Nov. 21- "Twilight" hits theaters
Stephanie Meyers says the idea for her series of vampire-romance novels came to her in a dream, which is exactly what the movies have been for the filmmakers, earning over two-and-a-half billion dollars to date at the box office. Of course, depending on whom you ask, the movies are more nightmare than dream.
2009
May 18- Justin Bieber will make more money than you ever will
In May 2009, international teen heartthrob and pop superstar Justin Bieber was just another irrelevant Canadian in a world full of them. But then his first single, "One Time," hit the airwaves May 18, and the transition from 15-year-old singing covers on YouTube to megastar was almost instantaneous.
May 19- Gleeks hit Fox
In an unusual move by the network, the pilot episode of the series was aired on its own, with the rest of the series to follow in September. The cover of "Don't Stop Believing" featured in the episode became a hit and sold over 150,000 copies in the first week and when the rest of the series followed it came with week after week of delicious pop covers and dream guest spots.
June 22- Everybody hates Jon and Kate
Reality television darlings Jon and Kate Gosselin announced their divorce only two years after their show, "Jon and Kate Plus 8" first aired. But that didn't mean they were ready to relinquish the spotlight. As they said, the show must go on, and they tried to make it go on as long as possible in some sort of sick "which one is least sympathetic" competition. At least Kate got that ridiculous side mullet chopped off.
June 25- Michael Jackson dies
The King of Pop was planning a comeback tour and was rehearsing in Los Angeles when his health took a dramatic turn for the worse. The world went crazy, causing websites such as Twitter, Wikipedia, The Los Angeles Times, TMZ and even AOL Instant Messenger (which people still used, apparently) to crash for short periods of time.
Sept. 13- "Imma Let You Finish"
Taylor Swift was in the middle of accepting the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video when Kanye West pulled a classic Kanye West. He climbed on stage, grabbed the microphone from Swift and uttered the now immortal words. His rant ran out of steam fast and ended awkwardly, showing once again he's not that great in live performances.
Dec. 9- GTL enters common vernacular, America dies inside a little
MTV's hit reality show, "Jersey Shore," became an instant cultural phenomenon almost immediately on arrival. Snooki, Ronnie, Vinny, Sammi, Pauly D and The Situation introduced the world to the Guido lifestyle, a term that sounds and probably is wildly racist in some contexts but became instantly cool.
2010
Feb. 19- Tiger loses his cool
Following months of tabloid speculation and more than a dozen women claiming affairs with him, Tiger Woods makes a televised statement admitting to spending the previous month-and-a-half in a sexual addiction therapy program. Woods, once the number one golfer in the world and highest paid player in professional sports between winnings and sponsorships, lost most of his lucrative sponsorships following the scandal and has won only one PGA Tour event since.
Oct. 30- Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear
The Fall of 2010 was a bit of a crazy time for politics. The Tea Party craze was sweeping the nation, the midterm elections were at hand, and Glenn Beck was plotting a rally to "Restore Honor." It was perfect fodder for comedy. Thus Jon Stewart launched his "Rally to Restore Sanity" and Colbert hopped on the bandwagon with his "March to Keep Fear Alive." Washington was filled with fans bearing signs of reasonableness and/or fear and musical guests like Sheryl Crow and John Legend kept the crowd entertained.
2011
April 29- The Royal Wedding
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and future King of England, and Kate Middleton were wed at Westminster Abbey in London in a ceremony that was viewed by millions across the globe, including more than 72 million on the YouTube stream. The wedding cost was estimated at over $32 million in American dollars, and was the first wedding of British royalty since Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986.
May 7- Winning.
Charlie Sheen is literally nuts. Though this was a generally accepted fact in pop culture, it wasn't really apparent just how off the wall insane Sheen was until his firing from CBS' "Two and a Half Men" in early March and his subsequent internet meltdown. There was something comical about watching someone fully expose their crazy with such reckless abandon, but the entertainment quickly waned and Sheen cleaned up his act, sort of.
May 14 - Rebecca Black ruins Fridays forever
The song "Friday" was initially released on YouTube to the most negative views of all-time. The Auto-Tune masterpiece was the epitome of pre-packaged music industry fluff. It did, however, inspire hilarious parodies from the likes of Justin Bieber, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien.
Oct. 5 - End of an Era
Steve Jobs, the visionary founder of Apple and only person allowed to wear a turtleneck to a major business presentation, passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was a tech pioneer and brought the world some of the most revolutionary inventions of the last decade. Memorials sprouted up at Apple stores across the country in remembrance of the man who put the "i" in innovation.
2012
Feb. 18 - Biebs and Selena make "Call Me Maybe" a hit
Believe it or not, "Call Me Maybe" was released in September of 2011, but it didn't reach mainstream attention until a homemade video of Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ashley Tisdale and crew hit the web in February. It reached more than 36-million views and caused celebs like Katy Perry to film their own version of the video. "Call Me Maybe" even found its way into just about every mash-up created during the month of February.
March 23 - Katniss kills at the box office
"The Hunger Games," Suzanne Collins' post-apocalyptic trilogy about teenagers fighting to the death was adapted into a feature film starring Academy Award-nominated Jennifer Lawrence. It received mixed reviews but brought Hunger Games mania front and center. The subsequent two films seem poised to make Lawrence and her co-stars Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth bonafide stars.
May 20- Commencement.
Have fun in the real world.
