TikTok trends are everywhere. When the pandemic began, many of us turned towards TikTok to entertain ourselves while in lockdown. With trends including food, fashion, dances and activities, TikTok has taken over the internet and our daily lives. Even with the days of lockdowns behind us, TikTok trends are still going strong. One of the latest TikTok trends that I have found myself thinking about is the ‘Butterfly Effect.’
The ‘Butterfly Effect’ is a TikTok trend where you express events or milestones in your life that wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t done a particular thing. For example, you end up going to a summer camp one year at the age of ten. Thirteen years later, you end up marrying a boy that your cabin pranked. With hundreds of thousands of videos, some of the ‘Butterfly Effects’ are pretty interesting. This trend got me thinking of my own ‘Butterfly Effects,’ and I thought I would share them with you.
Choosing a University
When I entered grade six, it was an interesting year. The school I was going to be attending merged with the school I had gone to all my life. Being that it was a new school, the school wanted to test out a few different things. One of which was a year-end trip for the final grade of the school. The school ended up being a Kindergarten to sixth grade school, which meant that I would be getting a year-end trip. I was excited to find out that we would be going to a program called JUMP. The program took place at a university, where we would be taught about university life and programs. We got to experience fun activities related to the programs and test the waters for our future majors. My favourite activity was digging for dinosaur bones as an anthropology student. When we were leaving the trip, I knew that I had fallen in love with the campus and atmosphere. This was the school I wanted to go to in the future. Sure enough, I accepted my offer at Wilfrid Laurier and toured the school almost exactly six years later. Without going on the trip, I am sure that I would never have looked at the school or considered it an option, but I am so glad that I did.
Meeting My Boyfriend
When I first entered university, I didn’t know anyone. I was very nervous about attending events during orientation week but knew that I needed to if I wanted to meet people. At the end of the week was a big football game. Everyone that I had met during orientation week already had plans. At the time, I had my own apartment and thought that I should invite my friends from home to come up and watch the game because I was interested in going. When it was finally Game Day, we decided not to go to the game but to go out for a late dinner instead. When we got back to my place, we started playing a game and I had to download a dating app. At first, I found the app boring and deleted it after a few weeks. Now I am not the typical person to use a dating app, as I’m shy and don’t like starting conversations. However, I found myself downloading the app again a few months later. Within the first day, I met someone, and two years later we are still going strong. Without downloading the app again, I would have never met him. He downloaded the app as a joke and would be deleting it a few days later if he didn’t meet anyone. I am so happy that I didn’t go to the game and decided to play a fun game with my friends instead.
Overall, I find this TikTok trend very cute. You get to think about the little things in life and how they have affected you. Without going on the field trip and missing a football game, my life would look very very different then what it does now. I encourage all of you to think about your ‘Butterfly Effects’ and see if your life would be any different than what it is now.