Have the first few weeks back stolen your motivation for an academic rebrand? Are you slowly migrating from the front of the classroom to the back? Are you finally regretting that 6 p.m. lab? Wishing for easier times, like back when your biggest worry was which color fidget spinner you had? Well, look no further!

Let’s face it, you’re already failing your New Year’s delusions and resolutions, and with no section crush in sight, you need something to get you through these grinding months until spring break. Romanticizing school usually works — but not when your aesthetic walk to class ends with your face in a pile of questionably colored snow (true story, alas).

No, you and I both need something stronger than romanticizing. We need full-blown nostalgia: we need 2016.

Oh, 2016! I may have been only 10 (yeah, 2006 — how old are you?), but you made a lasting impression on me. To make five classes more bearable, here’s a guide on turning spring semester 2026 into 2016.

1. Mandatory 2016 attire

The 2020s trend cycle had a good run, but it’s time to bring back the classics. Say goodbye to your low-waisted baggy jeans and dust off your high-waisted skinny jeans (they’re in your closet somewhere). Pair with Adidas Superstars and a red flannel, and you're basically there. Bonus points if you throw on a boho chic look to channel Coachella 2016.

2. Reject Scooters, return to hoverboards.

Let’s be so real, the coolest kid in your school owned a hoverboard. Yes, they did have the tendency to spontaneously combust — but, would you rather ride a boring black electric scooter or glide along in your galaxy-covered hoverboard in the yard (instant huzz)?

3. The holy trinity: Vine, Musical.ly, and Snapchat

While two of those apps may have unfortunately kicked the metaphorical digital bucket (RIP Vine, you were never forgotten). In order to really be immersed, you need to bring back the classics. Go back to lip-synching Jacob Sartorius on TikTok, reciting Vines anytime you can, and exclusively using the dog and flower crown filters on Snapchat.

4. Bring back the lost artifacts

Classes stressing you out? Babe, wake up, it’s 2016. You don’t have pset waiting for you! Now go play with your glow-in-the-dark fidget spinner instead! Better yet, let's go make some pink cloud slime (no borax). Still stressed out? I’ve got fidget cubes, pop-sockets, water bottles to flip, unsolved Rubik’s cubes, and cups that need to be stacked. There is bound to be something to do.

5. Your 2016 Spotify Wrapped

How can it be 2016 if you're not listening to the music? A few songs to salvage from your cracked rose gold iPhone 6 include: “It Ain't My Fault” by Zara Larsson, “Closer” by the Chainsmokers, “Lean On” by Major Lazer & DJ Snake ft. MØ, “Faded” by Alan Walker (this man OWNED 2016), and “Work” by Rihanna ft. Drake, just to name a few.

2016 never actually ended; it just took a ten-year hiatus. Forget your senior thesis and remember that the 2016 Miami Heat is having a generational run right now. With a little delusion and some cold, hard cash (hoverboards are not cheap!), you could make 10-year-old me (and current me) so jealous.