Dorm rooms lit by Christmas lights in April, Vine humor, frat basements with elite playlists, and the collective delusion that these were “the best years of our lives.” Today, we’re cracking open the 2016 college experience—romanticized, chaotic, emotional, and unforgettable.

Was college really as iconic as TikTok makes it seem, or do we just miss who we were before life got so heavy? We talk highlight reels, rushing, cringey Instagram photos, Discover Weekly, Pokémon Go, Hamilton, Westworld, and why everything felt like the biggest deal in the world… and also somehow meaningless.

We get real about:

• The myth of “the best years of your life”

• Anxiety, academic pressure, and identity crises

• Situationships, friendship breakups, roommate drama, and money stress

• The first heartbreaks, failures, and “oh sh*t, no one is coming to save me” moments

• What we think we miss vs. what we actually miss about being in that in-between era

Plus, we play “Banger or Flop?” with the songs that soundtracked our lives in 2016 and answer your Hard Boiled Questions about feeling lonely at school, post-grad nostalgia, and breakups that taint your core memories.

College was magical. College was messy. College was loud, confusing, and full of becoming. It wasn’t better—just different. And we’re unpacking all of it.