^^^ This reminds me of my DD (rising college sophomore) - every fall on the first day of school starting when she was in kindergarten I took a photo of her holding a sign with the date and “First Day of” whatever grade/name of school. At some point during elementary school she asked if she’d still have to do the picture when she went to college.
Fast forward to this past fall - she wrote her own sign that had the date/First Day of Freshman Year/name of college, had her roommmate take a picture of her holding it, and texted it to me.
I like that the habit stuck!