In August 2014, 6,856 freshmen stepped foot on UA’s campus. Three years later, those same students are no longer the fresh faces of the Capstone – the ones who don’t know anyone and haven’t joined any clubs. Now, those freshmen are seniors. They’re involved in organizations all over campus, they know the fight song by heart, and they have three years of memories under their belt. We took a snapshot of what things looked like when they got to campus three years ago. Here’s our list of what was hot and what was not in 2014, and how it compares to 2017. 

Look at What We Made Taylor Swift Do

In 2014, Taylor Swift released “1989,” which included some of her hits like “Blank Space,” “Wildest Dreams” and “Shake It Off.” The album went on to win a handful of awards, including Best Pop Video for “Blank Space“ and Album of the Year at the 58th Grammy Awards. However, in the past few weeks Swift has taken a near 180 degree turn, going so far as claiming that she is a new Taylor and the old Taylor is dead.

What Song Do You Turn Off on the Radio Now?

In 2014, three of the top 10 most popular songs were “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, and “All of Me” by John Legend. Because these songs were widely popular when they were first released, radio stations took the liberty of playing them constantly. Eventually, the songs hit a point where they were played so often that people would turn off their car radios. Right now, the songs that are streaming over the radiowaves include hits like “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran and “Despacito (Remix)” by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber. Will these songs, too, reach a level of popularity that is just too much to handle?

Silver Screen Goodbyes

There are many series continuing on through 2017, but a few shows that are either in or about to be in their last seasons this year are “New Girl,” “Pretty Little Liars” and “The Mindy Project.” Throwing it back to 2014, a handful of notable shows aired their final seasons during 2014. “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” aired its final, and after seven seasons, “True Blood” came to a close as well. Also, after nine seasons and a divisive series finale, we finally got to hear the ending of “How I Met Your Mother.”

How to be Trendy in 2014

The Internet will probably be around forever, but there is no guarantee on what people will be posting on it. 2014 saw many Internet trends come and go, but it was a year when many people began to realize that they could put their own spin on trends after the popularity of the Harlem Shake in 2013. A trend most similar to this was the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Videos that took the nation by storm in 2014. Fast forward to 2017 and one trend that has produced a multitude of iterations is the famous/infamous Snapchat Dancing Hot Dog. Another major trend in 2014 was the beginning of the selfie revolution somewhat started by Ellen at the Oscars, which has remained as a typical way of taking a group selfie these days. Finally, even though it has been four years, Disney has still found a way of keeping songs stuck in our heads. Back in 2014, “Let It Go” topped music charts for a sustained amount of time and has remained popular over the years. However, a new princess is singing in our ears in 2017: Moana singing “How Far I’ll Go.” Trends come and go, but in their popularity there is an odd sense of international community that is discovered all across the internet.

Sports in 2014

Sports looked a lot different four years ago in 2014, in terms of who was at the forefront of each sport and how each sport’s championships turned out. In Super Bowl XLVIII, the Seattle Seahawks were leading the Denver Broncos by 28 points heading into the fourth quarter and maintained that lead, unlike this year’s Super Bowl. Almost inconceivable now, the two teams in the NBA Championship were the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat, not the Golden State Warriors or the Cleveland Cavaliers. Way back when LeBron James was still on the Heat and Kevin Durant was still on the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 2014, the Chicago Cubs finished below .500 in wins for the year, not expecting in four years that they would be celebrating the year as reigning World Series Champions. Most notably, however, is the fact that in 2014 the reigning College Football National Champions were the Florida State Seminoles, and the Crimson Tide knows firsthand how they are doing this year so far.