If that mark will be a scratch in the generation's collective memory or a chasm that cleaves the heart of it remains to be seen.
Much hinges on whether the nation's involvement in the Middle East escalates to a full-on war, experts say.
And others say that perhaps even more rests on how young Americans ultimately classify the series of events that began that early morning in September.
But all agree that the essence of Sept. 11 and the impact it will have on the children of the early '80s still mystifies.
The only thing that is certain about Sept. 11 is the physical reality of two planes flying into the World Trade Center towers, a third smashing into the Pentagon and a fourth crashing in Pennsylvania, Perrin said.
"Everything else we know about this event is interpretive," he said.
Perrin added that college-aged students must find a collective definition for what occurred Sept. 11 -- a terrible tragedy, a vicious attack, an answer to the United States' arrogance -- before the events will have any tangible effects on the generation as a whole. "We don't even know how to name this set of events yet, and the process of naming them is important," he said.
The definition individuals give a certain catastrophic event largely determines the long-term effects of that occurrence, Perrin said.
But David Schoem, sociology professor at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, said Sept. 11's influence on the college-aged generation depends on what is to come -- peace, more acts of terror or war.
"If there are events tied to September 11 that occur within the next few years, then it could be very influential," he said.
Schoem said that war -- with Iraq or another party -- in particular would solidify the role of Sept. 11 in the lives of young adults.
But Erica Wise, UNC psychology professor, said the falling towers and the emotions they evoked might have already left a deep impression on college-aged individuals -- perhaps deeper than that left on any other age group.
"Developmentally, college students are coming out of a period where they feel invulnerable," Wise said. "They are starting to deal with the idea that there are some things they cannot do."
She said that Sept. 11, coupled with the sense of vulnerability and mortality that comes with the college years, could greatly influence college-aged individuals.
"In a sense, this may be something that hit college-aged kids too early in the process of learning to deal with vulnerability," Wise said.
She said the unsettling questions raised by Sept. 11 might lead college students to search out answers elsewhere. They might prematurely choose a major or settle down with a partner too soon, Wise said. "When the world seems to be more hostile, people may be looking for some certainty. The events might decrease people's intolerance for uncertainty."
Perrin also said that younger generations -- especially those aware of the enormity of the event -- are likely to be more greatly affected by Sept. 11 because they have a narrower frame of reference.
"Younger people have less habits developed," he said. "They are coming up with ways to look at the world, not just refreshing old ones.
"People who are younger think with what they have, and what they have is September 11."
But Perrin said drastic lifestyle changes will only occur in the outliers of the college-aged generation.
"There are trends at the margin," he said. "But lots of kids did what they always did."
Perrin said many tendencies exhibited by college students as a whole existed before Sept. 11.
"People that are in college now were already more interested in service, more distrustful of business, more trusting of government," he said. "We may have as a culture defined September 11 to make it seem as if it were the root."
Even still, Perrin said Sept. 11 has caused college students to make small but significant changes in their lives.
"Little changes happen a lot, and they make a big difference," Perrin said.
And though he hesitated to categorize, Perrin said those changes will likely mold the college-aged generation.
"Generations definitely determine their identity based on big things that happen when they're young."
By Elyse Ashburn, State & National Editor
