Have you heard the trending phrase “2016 is the 2026?” 

GHS faculty and students recount their lives in 2016.

For Mr. Derek Fischer, FACS teacher, 2016 was a time of less chaos.

“I feel like overall 2016 was a much calmer time in life; everything seemed to be running a little bit smoother,” Mr. Fischer said. “At the time I was in college, so I had a lot more time to spend with friends and family.”

A popular trend in 2016 was Musical.ly, later bought and now known as Tiktok.

“I miss Musical.ly. The dancing trends were so amazing, and I loved them,” junior Reise Rutledge said. “I think Tiktok and Musical.ly should be different apps because I loved them both as their own, but I feel like Tiktok has more recipes while Musical.ly is dancing and moving the phone.”

Even when phones were not as common, kids still knew the trends of that time.

“I feel like a lot of people enjoyed Musical.ly more than Tiktok,” junior Parker Chance said. “I wasn’t allowed to have social media, but a lot of my friends had it, and they used to make videos.”

Dances are often viewed as cringy once people grow out of it.

“A lot of people participated in the dab; at the time, a lot of people thought it was cringy,” he said. “Sadly, people’s mood has changed towards it.”

With many unique dance trends in 2016, the dab stuck out the most to Rutledge.

“A trend I would like to resurface is the dab. I really like the dab, so please bring it back,” Rutledge said. “Renegade is the closest modern-day dance we have to the dab. 21 is also like the dab.”

Since 2016, phones have become more addictive with the variety of social media now available.

“In 2016, phones were a lot less addictive because there was a lot less to do on your phone, not that I didn’t spend a huge amount of time on my phone, but I had less to get zapped into,” Mr. Fischer said. “I wasn’t spending an hour watching Tiktoks and losing time. It was a lot less addictive.”

With the year that was 2016, kids yearned to operate a business of their own.

“My nostalgic memories were Shopkins and my slime shop. I still have Shopkins in my closet just in case my future kids will like them. I would sell my slime for five bucks. I had a gallon of glue, glitter glue, and all these beads I would put in,” Rutledge said.

A common nostalgic game in 2016 was Pokemon Go, an interactive game that allows players to catch and train the Pokemon they catch.

“I loved Pokemon Go at the time,” Mr. Fischer said. “People still play it, but it is nowhere near as popular as it was. I feel like it was a fun time because you could just walk around places and there would also be people playing the same game. That is something I feel like we don’t have anymore.”

Many people’s nostalgic memories stem from the music that was released in 2016.

“In 2016, the album Awaken My Love by Childish Gambino came out, and I listened to that entire album from start to finish just about every day for three or four months,” he said. “It was an awesome time listening to that music over and over again.”

Although it was released in 2012, the song “Gangnam Style” by PSY was a popular resurfaced hit for people in 2016.

“My favorite song of that time was Gangnam Style,” Rutledge said. “It brings out nostalgic memories about 2016. I would always have fun with my friends doing the dance.”