BY Roberto Rojas
Asst. Perspectives Editor
There is a new trend spreading all around the Internet and especially on social media that not only makes trends such as Throwback Thursday as a thing of the past, but does so in a much more specific way. It’s called the “10-Year Challenge.”
The “10-Year Challenge” is a simpler concept. The new challenge sees people sharing pictures of themselves from now in 2019 and ten years ago in 2009. Many celebrities, such as Ryan Seacrest, Jennifer Lopez, and Ellen DeGeneres, have participated in the challenge.
Among students at Sacred Heart, however, opinions have been different and scattered as to who are fans of the challenge and who show a bit of apathy towards it.
“I’m a fan of it,” said senior Dante Cabral. “I personally think it’s really cool to see how much people have changed in just 10 years. Especially people in our age range because people in our age range have gone from childhood to pretty much adulthood.”
A negative aspect of the 10-Year Challenge might be the misleading perspective it gives of those who take it up. This has led some people to be a bit cynical about it, and so they stay away from it.
“I’m definitely a fan when it’s used the right way,” said senior Anne Reboa. “I’m a fan of social media but understand different downsides to it. I love that it connects people instantly and easily. However, it also allows for false stories to spread just as quickly as anything else.”
To some, the internet phenomenon seems to be just another ephemeral trend, quickly gaining popularity now, but probably destined to be forgotten like all the other ones.
“I don’t really pay attention to the 10-Year Challenge,” said senior Gloria Duby. “I don’t care for it really. Some of them are fun to see but I don’t really care for it.”
“I don’t have much against the 10-Year Challenge,” said junior Alex Angelescu. “I personally haven’t taken part in it myself, however, I think people can reflect on their growth or achievements. For the most part, I think people enjoy seeing how much change can happen in 10 years and having two pictures side by side can put that into perspective.”
The challenge, if accepted, creates a telling snapshot of the process growing up as people look back at the tremendous transformations that they have gone through. Whether it be kids in elementary school becoming college students or soon-to-be college graduates becoming parents themselves, the challenge certainly has divided opinions.
“I think the 10-year challenge is so fun!” said senior Caroline King. “I love seeing how much people have changed over the 10 years. I feel like we haven’t seen anything like this really before, and because it’s not consistent, it makes it more nostalgic!”
