22 for ’22 in ’22
I notice that this year (2019) most of us in the class of ’71 will turn 70, while most members of the class of ’70 will turn 71. Last year (2018) the class of ’70 turned 70, and next year (2020) the class of ’71 will turn 71. I call these examples “milestone” years.
Your Challenge:
Answer the questions below.
For the purpose of this contest, assume the members of each class turned 22 the year they graduated, even though the reality is more varied. (This means the class of ’22 will have its “milestone” year the same year it graduates.)
Anyone who answers correctly will be entered to win an Amherst T-shirt.
- Why is it that even though we graduated in consecutive years (’70 and ’71), these two “milestone” years (2018 and 2020) are two years apart?
- How does a similar explanation apply to the “milestone” years for the classes of ’82 and ’87, which graduated five years apart?
- Which class will celebrate its “milestone” year in the same year as its 50th reunion?
Turton was the winner of the Spring 2019 “Campus Close-Up” contest. A physics major at Amherst, he is a retired mathematics teacher.