Harry Styles made me do it!

Hi everyone. I’m Sienna Radley. I’m a freshman majoring in psychology, and my long-term goal is to get a PhD in reproductive psychology. I know, big goals for someone still figuring out how to survive freshman year. I’m interested in people, emotions, and how mental health connects to reproductive health, which is why psychology felt like the right choice for me.

Reading and writing were rough for me growing up. I have a learning disability, and school reading always felt slow and stressful. I was the kid rereading the same page five times and still not sure what I’d read. Writing felt even worse. I always had thoughts, but putting them into sentences felt like trying to untangle headphones that lived in a backpack for months. Because of this, I never thought of myself as a reader or writer.

In school now, reading is still difficult when the topic does not interest me. Academic articles and textbooks are the hardest for me to focus on. Writing for school feels more structured and under pressure, which makes me second-guess myself a lot. Outside of school, reading feels completely different. When I get to choose what I read, I enjoy it. Last year, I read 43 books, which still surprises me. I mostly read romance books, especially cheesy romance stories. I like books focused on characters and emotions. I also use https://www.goodreads.com to track what I read and find new books I want to pick up.

In this course, I want to learn how to write in a way that feels natural and interesting. I want to unlearn the idea that writing needs to sound stiff or overly formal to count as good writing. I want my writing to feel engaging and easy to follow, the kind of writing people enjoy, instead of rushing through. One of the readings we started with in this class, file:///Users/siennaradley/Downloads/Bunn.How%20to%20Read%20Like%20a%20Writer.pdf, made me think differently about how reading and writing exist outside of school.

When I talk with other people, I usually end up talking about music, concerts, pop culture, or whatever artist I am obsessed with at the moment. Right now, that is fully Harry Styles. He is releasing new music and going back on tour, which has taken over my personality. I have tickets for London, which feels unreal to say out loud. Every conversation somehow circles back to tour dates, possible setlists, and me reminding people I am going to London for a concert. I spend a lot of time checking https://www.hstyles.co.uk for updates, tour dates, and announcements, even though nothing has changed since the last

time I checked. I like being able to share my excitement with others who understand why a song, outfit, or concert moment matters. Most of these conversations happen on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, where everyone is equally unwell about tour announcements. I also talk about it in person with friends, even if they did not ask. Music is one of the easiest ways for me to connect with people, and right now, Harry Styles is doing most of the heavy lifting.

Blog #2 Where it started!

I got into One Direction when I was younger, before I was really online in the way fandoms are now. My entire experience lived on YouTube. I watched music videos, video diaries, interviews, and fan made compilations on repeat. That is how I learned everything. I knew their personalities, who was quiet, who was loud, and who never stopped joking, all without being part of online conversations.

One thing that made One Direction easy to get attached to was how they started. They did not even start as a band. They were put together on The X Factor after auditioning solo, which always made them feel more real. This YouTube video is my favorite when watching the old auditions, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VclS_bw2oRo. Looking back, they were clearly just figuring things out as they went. A lot of the early stuff is awkward in a way that somehow made it better. It did not feel polished or forced. It felt like watching something slowly become a big deal.

When Zayn left, everything shifted. Even though I was younger and not super involved online, that moment still felt heavy. The news was everywhere, and it was treated like a huge event, with outlets like the BBC covering it https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-32057401. The vibe around the band changed almost immediately. Interviews felt different. Performances felt different. The group kept going as four, but everyone knew it was not the same. It was the first time it felt like the band might not be permanent.

Then the hiatus happened, which we were all told was temporary. That word did a lot of work for a long time. There was no official breakup, just a slow pause that never really ended. Looking back, the hiatus was a turning point for both the band and the fandom. People had to figure out what they wanted to do next, whether that meant waiting, moving on, or following the members into their solo careers. It felt like a quiet ending instead of a clear one.

What I find interesting is how the fandom adjusted instead of disappearing. One Direction did not end overnight. It faded, and that era slowly closed. When Harry Styles started releasing solo music, it did not feel like starting from scratch. It felt like a continuation. The music grew up. The image changed. The audience grew up, too. The connection stayed, even if it looked different. As I got older, my connection to the fandom moved online. Now I see it on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. Old One Direction clips resurface, and suddenly everyone remembers everything, like in this TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8HkP8A7/. The shared memory is still there, even if we all experienced that time differently. Some people were deep in fan accounts and forums. I was deep in YouTube recommendations. Different paths, same outcome. This long history makes the fandom feel familiar, shared, and easy to return to, no matter how much time passes.

What keeps this fandom with me is how long it has lasted and how it has changed without disappearing. A lot of interests come and go, especially ones you have when you are younger, but this one grew up alongside me. The way the band formed, Zayn’s leaving, the hiatus, and the move into solo careers all shaped how the fandom works now. People understand references without explanation because we all lived through the same moments, even if we were watching quietly from our bedrooms. That long timeline is what turns it into a community instead of just liking a band, and it is why I want to keep exploring it for the rest of the semester.

Blog #3 The Solo Era

When One Direction went on hiatus, it didn’t feel like a clean break. We were told it was only temporary, and for a time, that word held hope. But as the months went by and each member started putting out solo music, it became apparent that the end was not in sight. The end was simply changing form.
The first big split came when Zayn Malik left the group in 2015. News such as the BBC picked up the story right away, and this showed just how big a deal this was to people outside of the fandom. This marked a change in the atmosphere surrounding the group. Interviews were different. Concerts were different. When the group went on as a four-piece act, it was clear that something had changed. Then came the hiatus, which we were all assured was only temporary. There was no big split announcement, just a pause that gradually became permanent.

After that, everything shifted toward solo careers. When Harry Styles released “Sign of the Times,” I remember sitting there thinking, this is not One Direction. It was dramatic and slow and serious. It felt intentional. It felt like he was separating himself on purpose.

When Harry Styles’ self-titled debut album  came out in 2017, I was curious but also a little unsure. Critics were watching closely. Rolling Stone talked about the album’s classic rock influences and how different it was from the band’s pop sound. Variety broke down the tracks and pointed out how songs like “Carolina” and “Sweet Creature” showed a more personal side of him.

What struck me was how much of a risk it seemed to be. He was not attempting to replicate the formula of the band. The album was more live, longer songs, and more serious in tone. It was not structured around catchy hooks the way One Direction songs were. At first, I was not sure how I felt. But the more I listened, the more it seemed like growth rather than distance.

Over time, that risk clearly paid off. Later albums reached people who had never been part of the original fandom. His tours got bigger. The crowds got older. The conversations around him changed. At some point, people stopped introducing him as “from One Direction” and just said his name. Watching that happen felt strange but also kind of validating, like seeing someone step fully into who they are.

Meanwhile, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Liam Payne built their own sounds and audiences, too. The fandom did not split apart the way people expected. It stretched. Some fans followed everyone. Some picked a lane. But the shared history never disappeared.

Now most of this lives online. TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter constantly resurface old One Direction clips next to solo performances. A single lyric or old interview reference still connects people instantly. Even if we all experienced it differently, we still understand it.

Another aspect that strikes me about the solo era is the way the conversations changed. With One Direction, it was all about the group. Who had the best verse, who was the happiest in interviews, who was interacting with who on stage. With the solo era, the conversations changed to be about individuality. I began analyzing lyrics more, discussing artistic direction and production decisions, and focusing on personal development. It was less about five guys sharing one spotlight and more about watching each of them discover who they were on their own. This changed the way the fandom felt. The energy was still there, but it was accompanied by more mature conversations and a focus on the music.

What keeps this fandom with me is not just nostalgia. It is the way it grew up at the same time I did. The band formed, someone left, the hiatus happened, and the solo eras began. I was younger during the band years. I am older during the solo years. The music changed, and so did I. The band may have paused, but the community did not. It evolved, and I kind of did too.