![“I wasn't discouraged by some of the obstacles we faced. I learned a lot from the leadership. I found that different people need different ways of receiving feedback — you can't [just] tell them to do something and expect the best. [Some] people needed more incentive. A large part of my role was to figure out what worked for everyone and to figure out how to lead all these separate individuals as a team,” Suhana Bhandare (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SuhanaBhandare_JasmineHansra-1-1200x798.jpg)
![“This is actually from Randy Pausch Randy P. Brick: ‘Walls are there for a reason. You have to show how much you want to overcome them.’ You have to show how much you want something. That's what I've always been able to do with tennis, Link Crew and getting that internship [with Kushy Baby]. It’s important pushing through that — getting around that brick wall, climbing over it or clawing through it,” Yash Sachdeva (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/YashSachdeva_RamBatchu-copy-1200x1002.jpg)
![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
As I swipe through reels on Instagram at record speed, I suddenly hear familiar drum beats and guitar chords that I’ve listened to hundreds of times before. Immediately, I recognize the music as “Better in the Dark,” one of TV Girl and Jordana’s lesser known songs from 2021. I’m surprised that such a vulnerable and emotional song is becoming popular on social media, but what confuses me the most is the seemingly unrelated video that is paired with it: someone holds a small pit bull over a sink as faucet water falls onto its belly.
This trend became viral in early 2025, when user @pibbygabe posted a video on Instagram of a pit bull with a voiceover that said, “I am Pibble, wash my belly.” Content creators then added various songs to the audio, with the “Better in the Dark” remix helping the pibble meme gain widespread popularity online.
I’m always happy whenever an artist’s more underrated songs receive attention, as social media can revive older or more obscure songs and allow them to be enjoyed once more by a wider audience. But for me, the problem arises when an artist or melody becomes associated with a singular trend without depth or meaning.
Social media users popularize one specific part of a song, repeating it over and over on videos to go viral. People put one section on a pedestal, then after the internet’s tired of it, they throw the song away and move on to the next. Most of the time, it brings temporary craze for the song just for it to return to relative obscurity again. So when a song I love so dearly becomes part of this continuous and rapid cycle, I always wish that listeners can appreciate the true meaning of the music beyond the temporary trend it’s paired with.
These feelings are intensified whenever I read the comments on a trending song on streaming platforms. When a song goes viral, people often flood the comments with nonsensical references to the trend. Specifically, for “Better in the Dark,” users spammed phrases like “I am pibble” and “Wash my bellay. Clean my bellay.” I was disappointed that many of the people who discovered the song didn’t seem to see past the trend, especially because the song’s original message discusses difficult experiences like insecurity and struggling to stay true to oneself.
Let me clarify: I do not believe that a song is immediately ruined if it becomes popular through social media. Nor do I feel I must gatekeep a song in order to feel special and unique for listening to it. However, like many other trends, the “I Am Pibble, Wash ma Belly” meme took away from the authentic and raw feelings that “Better in the Dark” invites listeners to experience.
With lyrics like “the lighter makes a spark, but I look better in the dark” and “when the sunlight meets the dawn, you’ll see I’m not the one you want,” the song is filled with complicated and uncomfortable emotions . Given how much “Better in the Dark” means to so many people struggling with mental health, hearing the song repeatedly played with a shallow trend on my feed made me upset that the trend seemed to diminish the raw vulnerability of the music into something superficial.
When songs go viral, the popularity brings attention to artists and new life to overlooked songs. But with this popularity, songs take on a meaning of being “Tiktok music” and only affiliated with an internet meme that will inevitably die down. Because songs on social media platforms are often treated as a trend that will soon fade away and disappear, I believe that people should pay more attention to the genuine message of trending songs whenever they see them being paired with new popular videos on their feed.
