{"id":151597,"date":"2026-02-11T14:13:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/151597\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T14:13:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:13:28","slug":"its-not-2016-anymore-and-thats-ok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/151597\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s not 2016 anymore. And that\u2019s ok"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a> In a digital age keyed in on looking back, the best thing a college student can do is to be present. ORACLE PHOTO \/ CAROLINA MOLERO ROCA<\/p>\n

Every day, I scroll away five and a half hours of my life on my phone \u2013 between TikTok, Instagram and other social media apps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Multiple days of my year vanish in what feels like an instant, staring into a box of light that gives me bits of gratification in return.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, my hours have been spent looking back on decade-old memories from when I was in fifth grade in 2016.<\/p>\n

As 2026 began, a trend<\/a> focused on looking back a decade caught on, with users posting photos from that year declaring \u201c2026 is the new 2016.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The trend pushed me to acknowledge the need for presence in my own daily life, something I didn\u2019t feel I struggled with as a kid.<\/p>\n

Like many people my age, I find my memories of 2016 get better every year. The time spent with a whirring fidget spinner or opening up Pok\u00e9mon Go seems ancient.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although my head is filled with so many good memories of events dug up from an internet trend, I couldn\u2019t help but feel I should be upset that 2016 is gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I couldn\u2019t place my finger on why.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So I spent time thinking back to my routines as a kid \u2014 everyday rituals like walking from class to class or tossing a football with a friend.<\/p>\n

Then what I missed dawned upon me \u2014 the feelings I associate with my childhood were there because I took the time to be present with them.<\/p>\n

Although it can\u2019t be exactly the same, I can recreate many of those feelings at USF simply by focusing on being present in my life during college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: Why USF should require philosophy for all students<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

I found that when I looked back on my childhood, I spent moments interacting with the world around me rather than observing it passively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I spent the time it took walking to class actually digesting the material from my previous class, instead of drowning out my thoughts with music.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then, like many my age, my phone took over.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By high school, the once bustling halls seemed quieter. And so do those memories, because I spent those moments ignoring the world around me instead of interacting with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many spent their time listening to music or on their phones instead of interacting in the real world \u2014 a routine I had maintained through college without as much as a second thought until recently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After taking a step back, I realized my phone took my mind out of moments I could have embraced \u2014 all because I felt the need to listen to songs I could have heard any time.<\/p>\n

The inclination to drown out my thoughts pulled me away from experiences with friends I could only be a part of once, if only I had been more present.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So I regulate my phone usage now, making sure to spend time after a long day walking across campus with nothing but my thoughts and the pathway ahead of me. It\u2019s peaceful to reflect.<\/p>\n

More than that, reflecting on my days means acknowledging the events that happened within them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: Our lives are too curated. It\u2019s time to develop personal taste<\/a> \u00a0<\/p>\n

One way I try to stay in the moment is by journaling.<\/p>\n

Spending time writing down thoughts about mundane events forces me to be part of them, rather than spending time on my phone looking at experiences I wish I had had.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Journaling forces me off my phone, placing me face-to-face with the same pen and notebook every night, confronting my own day in a way I usually don\u2019t have to.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also provides a glimpse into my mind whenever I want it, making memories more vivid.<\/p>\n

Being present in the day looks different for most people and is an ongoing battle, but in a world where the day-to-day passes quickly, it\u2019s important to participate in life as it happens.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a kid, my father always told me to be aware of time \u2014 lamenting that it passes faster as you get older. I never really understood him, figuring I was the exception.<\/p>\n

But maybe I had a respect for the present 10-year-olds don\u2019t typically have. I understand now. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a digital age keyed in on looking back, the best thing a college student can do is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-151597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}