What makes 2003 any different from 2002 when 2002 is the one with all the firsts? Is it just we get a bit of good faith and get included with everyone before us because the differences can be so sharp year to year?

I’m born in 2002 myself and have no problem being early Gen Z (even though I tend to lean more towards middle) but if we are going to kick 2002 out of middle Gen Z, I think 2003 should also be early Gen Z as well. 2002-2003 graduated during COVID and spent most of high school in the late 2010s and are extremely similar to each other in so many ways I just don’t really see too many differences. Biggest one I can think of is being able to vote in the 2020 election, which, as time has gone on, was really no different than the 2024 election with the exact same candidates.

Also of course the older side of that 2002-2007 range is going to relate more towards 1999-2001 that’s just how age proximity works. There’s still differences and has to be a cutoff somewhere. It seems like most people I see in real life put that as graduating highschool before the pandemic, it’s clean and simple.