As a young child and throughout my adolescent years, I remember hanging up my favorite boy band posters all over my bedroom. I had the Jonas Brothers' photos on my middle school notebooks. I remember scratching my favorite B2K CD from over-playing their debut album in my portable CD player. The excitement from the release of a new album up to the posting of a new concert date was overwhelming. The joy I felt from buying a special edition magazine (with fold out posters), of all the popular boy bands was intoxicating. For a lot of millennials like me, the boy band era was more than just a time period, it was (and for some, it still is), a lifestyle.

From my borderline boy band obsession, I learned valuable lessons and gained friendships from across the globe. It's amazing how the internet can bring together a fandom. When Tumblr first gained popularity, I spent a lot of time scrolling through the tags and looking up PG fan-fictions while my favorite boy bands were on hiatus. Twitter is another resource I used to connect with other fandom members for a common purpose: to support our favorite bands. Through the bonds I made through fandoms, I learned how to support people and join together for a common interest. I actually met one of my best friends through a five minute fangirl moment over a 1D pencil case. I learned more information about my favorite boy band members (specifically Liam, who is my favorite 1D member), than a magazine or basic interview could ever release within a short amount of time.

The boy band era taught me the importance of embracing who you are and how to share my interests with other people. It helped me to understand how my music interests are not "weird" or "strange" because somewhere in the world, there is another person who would love to discuss Nick Jonas's new hair cut or Justin Timberlake's break away solo album after leaving NSYNC. The friendship between most of the boy band members helped me to see how important relationships are in the music industry. Despite some of the boy band breakups, most of the members still support each other in any of their recent endeavors.

Honestly, I do not think the boy band lifestyle is completely over for me and other millennials. Over the years, I've taken down the posters and uploaded CDs to my laptop, but it doesn't take away the memories that were made through the music. I am now in college and I still dance to the "Year 3000" and "Bye Bye Bye" with no shame. All of the memories made through a pivotal point in my childhood and adolence will last a lifetime.