Question about accurate dating: Quote: You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. (attrib Tom Petty 2001 May 9 probably)

[Garson O'Toole]

You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for
people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll
remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out
late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due
Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work
never ends, but college does.

This saying is aimed at college students, and it is attributed to the
popular rock musician Tom Petty. The passage has been circulated
enthusiastically by students who have been attracted to the sentiments
expressed.

I have been asked to explore its origin. The obvious approach would be
to contact Tom Petty directly or indirectly via a representative. If
someone knows a good strategy for this I would be happy to hear it.

The earliest citation I have found for this saying is in a forum at
the website slackercentral.com. The term "messageboard" is used for
the forum. A person using the handle "cd36" has a signature file that
includes the quotation and credits Tom Petty. A message with the date
May 9, 2001 uses the signature file.

This date may be wrong. The forum is controlled by the website
administrator(s) at slackercentral.com and the date can be arbitrarily
manipulated. In addition, messages can be retroactively altered. This
raises a question:  Which dates can be trusted on the web?

I checked the Internet Archive: Wayback Machine and found that the
forum was not effectively spidered. Only a small sample of messages
was archived, and I could not find the post with the Petty quotation.

The quotation in the signature is unadorned. No details are given
about provenance of the saying. Also, the time and location are not
given. The user cd36 used the signature file with the Petty quote for
several years. Another technique for exploration involves attempting
to contact cd36. I have not tried this yet.

The first reasonably solid date is October 20, 2003 in The Observer,
the student newspaper at Notre Dame:

Yeah, college! By Emily Howald
Published: Monday, October 20, 2003
Updated: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 13:08

(Begin excerpt)

So please, try not to lose perspective. If your faith is depleting or
you've whiffed at having fun, look, as I do, to this excellent piece
of advice. Think of it as the voice of reason, the voice of college.

I've learned one thing and that's to quit worrying about stupid
things. You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax; work is
for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time but you'll
remember the time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So stay
out late. Go out on a Tuesday night with your friends when you have a
paper due on Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink until
sunrise. The work never ends but college does.

http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/2.2755/yeah-college-1.275229

The author does not explicitly mention Tom Petty.

On December 22, 2003 the saying with a credit to Petty appeared in The
Defender, a student periodical at St. Michael's College, Vermont.
(Found via NewsBank)

(Begin excerpt)

"I've learned one thing, and that's to quit worrying about stupid
things. You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is
for people with jobs . You'll never remember class time, but you'll
remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So stay out
late, damn it. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a
paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink until sunrise.
The work never ends, but college does."

A wise man once said that. It was Tom Petty, that ancient rocker we
all know and love. Don't get me wrong. I don't take this, in its
entirety, too seriously. But the spirit of what he said I take very
much to heart.

Garson

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