My High School's Fad Experience
I’ve been having a difficult time remembering the fads that I experienced when I was in high school on Long Island but I chose this subject because I feel it is more interesting to discuss than writing about my reasons for choosing UAlbany. Why did I choose UAlbany? Well, why not?! It’s a great school and there are a lot of opportunities available. (:
While trying to remember what was trendy in my high school, I realized an interesting parallel in the music industry. I scanned the Billboard’s Hot 100 list for this week and Ne-Yo’s “Let Me Love You” is on the chart and then, when I looked for a random week in one of the years that I attended high school, Mario’s “Let Me Love You” topped that week’s chart! What a crazy co-incidence!
The fads from my high school are now considered so outdated and artificial… I’m kind of embarrassed of thinking about their impact on my life. I think, two fads that I remember clearly would be: wearing pajamas to school and wearing Uggsor another brand of fur-insulated boots. In my high school, some students made fun of the boots and called them “Boots with the fur”. I think wearing these boots as a trendy statement has lasted longer in Upstate New York than on Long Island and it’s probably based on how they can keep one’s feet pretty warm and that’s great for Upstate’s weather.
Fads are an ephemeral aspect of your life. They are enjoyable and the silly ways to connect with people because they become the common factor in our social connection. I think, a great analogy to a fad is to relate it to cotton candy. Cotton candy is light, quickly dissolves, fun while it lasted, in contemplation of the cotton candy you wondered why you ate it and you may not be satisfied with it especially if you are not full from it but then you say to yourself, “…I had cotton candy”. I think, that’s exactly what fads are. Now replace “cotton candy”, with a fad of today that you are experiencing and you will see this is an ideal formula to understanding how silly yet satisfying a fad can be.
You may think the fad is “cool” because being “in the moment” is the “cool experience”. Something that lasts long tends to be “warm” but something “cool” tends to have a short shelf-life. Ironically, when I was in high school, Paris Hilton was today's Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton had a catch-phrase of “That’s hot.”
You see, fads do not have to make sense! Just like cotton candy!!
Another fad that I just remembered is when guys wore two polo shirts and matched the colors to their sneaker's color theme. And yes, they “popped” their collar.
That was my high school. Those were our fads. Oh, and MySpace was growing to be popular amongst some students.
Fads can be fun but as you can see, the memory of them can be quite embarrassing.
I’ve been having a difficult time remembering the fads that I experienced when I was in high school on Long Island but I chose this subject because I feel it is more interesting to discuss than writing about my reasons for choosing UAlbany. Why did I choose UAlbany? Well, why not?! It’s a great school and there are a lot of opportunities available. (:
While trying to remember what was trendy in my high school, I realized an interesting parallel in the music industry. I scanned the Billboard’s Hot 100 list for this week and Ne-Yo’s “Let Me Love You” is on the chart and then, when I looked for a random week in one of the years that I attended high school, Mario’s “Let Me Love You” topped that week’s chart! What a crazy co-incidence!
The fads from my high school are now considered so outdated and artificial… I’m kind of embarrassed of thinking about their impact on my life. I think, two fads that I remember clearly would be: wearing pajamas to school and wearing Uggsor another brand of fur-insulated boots. In my high school, some students made fun of the boots and called them “Boots with the fur”. I think wearing these boots as a trendy statement has lasted longer in Upstate New York than on Long Island and it’s probably based on how they can keep one’s feet pretty warm and that’s great for Upstate’s weather.
Fads are an ephemeral aspect of your life. They are enjoyable and the silly ways to connect with people because they become the common factor in our social connection. I think, a great analogy to a fad is to relate it to cotton candy. Cotton candy is light, quickly dissolves, fun while it lasted, in contemplation of the cotton candy you wondered why you ate it and you may not be satisfied with it especially if you are not full from it but then you say to yourself, “…I had cotton candy”. I think, that’s exactly what fads are. Now replace “cotton candy”, with a fad of today that you are experiencing and you will see this is an ideal formula to understanding how silly yet satisfying a fad can be.
You may think the fad is “cool” because being “in the moment” is the “cool experience”. Something that lasts long tends to be “warm” but something “cool” tends to have a short shelf-life. Ironically, when I was in high school, Paris Hilton was today's Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton had a catch-phrase of “That’s hot.”
You see, fads do not have to make sense! Just like cotton candy!!
Another fad that I just remembered is when guys wore two polo shirts and matched the colors to their sneaker's color theme. And yes, they “popped” their collar.
That was my high school. Those were our fads. Oh, and MySpace was growing to be popular amongst some students.
Fads can be fun but as you can see, the memory of them can be quite embarrassing.
RSS Feed
