It’s 2025, a new year, and it’s time to decide what we want to take with us into the new year, and what we want to leave behind. Whether it’s clothing trends, ex-boyfriends, shoe choices, or bad habits, some things should stay in 2024.
To start, senior Dinah Sullivan believes we should move away from microtrends and fast fashion, especially regarding clothing. While consumerism and fast-changing trends are common in our generation, they often lead to a focus on short-term desires over long-term quality and value.
“I think they’re kind of dumb,” Sullivan said. “Remember the bows that were popular in 2024 and then everyone had bows on everything? Coming from someone who has a bow on the gearshift of her car, I just feel like it’s something we consume; they’re everywhere and then suddenly they’re gone,” Sullivan admits.
Another senior, Malia Wolven, also has opinions on the ins and outs of the new year.
“For starters, all the sigma bullsh*t. Leave it, please,” Wolven said.
Senior Malea Melendrez has similar views. “Leave brain rot in 2024,” Melendrez said. “Let’s leave TikTok behind and heal our brains.”
Wolven agrees, saying, “Yeah I feel like this is the year of reading, like we’re leaving a lot of social media behind.”
Additionally, Wolven believes that fake and insincere apologies should be left in the previous year.
“Either apologize and mean it, or don’t apologize at all,” Wolven said. “If you don’t mean it, don’t say it.”
Senior Nyrie Broderick came well-prepared for the conversation. When asked about things we should leave behind, Broderick said, “Hold on, let me pull up my list.”
This quite extensive list included: celebrities, TikTok, dehydration, expensive drinks, crypto, AI, screen addictions, the United States of America, amazon.com, anti-intellectualism, littering, being annoying, not taking a hint, telling the truth to strangers, not being able to cook, and so many more.
Broderick emphasized the need to move past expensive drinks saying, “I’m just sick of paying over 5 dollars for an iced chai. I feel like that’s unreasonable; it’s just tea. I remember when those things were 3 bucks max.”
Broderick also felt strongly about AI. “It doesn’t help,” Broderick said. “It’s wrong a lot of the time, uses so much water, and it’s a waste of resources.” Like most data centers, AI uses water to cool its servers, which is what Broderick refers to. Studies have shown that for every 5-50 prompts that ChatGPT is given, it uses about 16oz of water.
While most beliefs of what should be left behind are subjective, it’s important to recognize which practices, habits, and items are no longer benefiting us. As we take a step into the new year, it’s the perfect time to consider a fresh start. Sometimes all we need to embrace the new year is to leave a few things behind.
