By Samantha Bradley

Bellarmine students stroll down the hallway. Fads surround them in every form, but do they notice? Someone compliments her friend’s newest selfie, another brags about his new Birkenstocks, and somewhere struts a senior with “swag”.

Fads, or temporary trends, are everywhere in everyday life. Addictive iPhone apps, trendy fashions, activities, music, and even colloquial language flow into the stream of “hip”.

Bellarmine students take part in these fads, and some think fads are the bee’s knees. “Fads can be good because they raise money for a cause, like the Ice Bucket Challenge,” said freshman John Devita.

Indeed, the Ice Bucket Challenge has inspired many teens to spread awareness about ALS. History teacher, James Dempsey, even participated in the challenge at the Fall Spirit Assembly.

Other students use fads for humor.”The word ‘bae’ is kind of a fad. I only use it to be funny, though,” said junior Kylie Love.

However, others find fads just plain annoying.”They aren’t very creative,” said senior Elizabeth Yi, “When people just follow a crowd they don’t think about what they’re doing.”

Fads can create stereotypes as well. For example, some guys say that anyone drinking Starbucks is typical “white girl”, said Love. These racial generalizations could ostensibly enforce prejudice in the high school atmosphere.

Sometimes popular tends like fads find themselves in the “So Last Year” category quickly. TOMs, for instance, are a rare shoe statement these days. They’ve been one-upped by the latest Nordstrom-endorsed style: Birkenstocks.

The fact is that fads come and go, and opinions on them always differ. “If you don’t have that one thing that everyone else does, people are like ‘Why don’t you have them?'” said Love, “But then if you have them, everyone is like ‘We’re all the same!'”

Maybe the solution to this lack of individuality is on the rise. It’s up to the Bellarmine students to decide.