I too was in middle school when Columbine happened. The next year we weren’t allowed to wear trench coats… In Phoenix…
If you heard a noise, you were spared.
I hopped between distros for a long time. Before writing Linux off I suggest giving MX-Linux a shot. I’ve been loving it. It’s super solid. My only issue with it is that I can’t seem to get the right power settings set for closing my laptop but it’s probably something I’m doing wrong.
My parents are close to 65 and completely out of touch. If you turn 65 during your next term you should be ineligible.