The holiday season is approaching and the decade is coming to an end.  In the last month of the decade, many people have reflected over the last ten years.  So many lives have been changed from technology to music. Every experience, good and bad, are traveling through people’s memories. People are reflecting on their lives from the decade and are wondering about what the next decade could bring to them.  Each decade improves drastically on medicine, technology, and culture. When reflecting on the past decade, what did the 2010s do correctly?

Firstly, when it comes to medicine, the field improved drastically.  There are many accomplishments that scientists would not have thought of in the last decade.  The prevention medicine for HIV and AIDS has been very successful over the last few years. It is one of the main focuses in the science field.  Truvada is a drug that has a 90-99% effectiveness rate in preventing HIV transmission in patents. Keytruda is a drug that has over 3 billion dollars in sales for 2019 alone.  It is a first-line drug for patients who are fighting lung cancer. Keytruda even has cleared former president Jimmy Carter’s melanoma. Medicine has been improving rapidly and it would not surprise me if we would have more cures for many diseases in the near future.

Technology had such a huge influence for this decade. Smartphones are so advanced that most people’s days are spent buried in their phones!  Smartphones are very advanced, but they are also addicting to many people. It is a double-edged sword because most people do not limit their screen time on their devices, but it improves on communication. 

With better technology, there will be inventions that would improve lives and households tenfold. Electric vehicles are increasing in popularity and could be a bigger phenomenon in the 2020s. Computers are having more power and RAM every year.  Companies like Tesla are making new electric vehicles that will be a bigger influence for this decade and the future. 

American culture has truly evolved from the 2010s onwards.  TV shows that lit up our screens like Glee and Game Of Thrones had a huge impact on our pop culture for the decade.  Disney movies like Moana and Frozen have impacted the lives of many throughout the years. Marvel’s Avenger movies dominated the box-office and our movie theaters for years to come.  There are many artists and singers that dominated the radio channels of the decade. Taylor Swift, Drake, Ed Sheeran, and Eminem are the most listened to group of artists of the decade. AC/DC, Maroon 5, Linkin Park, and Coldplay are some of the most popular bands of the decade. 

When people talk about the decade, it is usually about the current year.  This decade allowed people around the world to reflect and think about how they would better themselves in the future.  In culture, music, or medicine, it does get better over time. Reflecting on the world’s accomplishments and problems would make a better decade as we learn from the previous mistakes that were made.  As long as you learn something from yourself from this decade, you will be able to reflect and move on and make a better you.