Ava Vozza ’26 starts most days recording herself in the mirror for her over 1,000 followers on TikTok.

Next, she’s walking to class or going to her on-campus internship. As she walks, she tells you where she’s headed, and why. 

By the end of her video, she’s taking off her make-up and getting ready for her nightly routine.

Vozza, who has been making day-in-the-life videos for over a year, said she started making this type of content after failing to get a digital marketing internship.

“I started to feel really discouraged, and it was because of a lack of experience,” said Vozza, who now posts nearly every day. “A lot of businesses want you to be really, really experienced with video editing specifically, and that’s something I didn’t have a lot of experience in. Instead of letting myself be upset about it, I decided that I was just going to give myself the experience.”  

Day-in-the-life videos like Vozza’s, which have taken over TikTok feeds in recent years, aim to provide a glimpse into other people’s lives through their daily routines. The #dayinthelife trend has amassed over 3.5 million posts on the app as of January 2026.

“I know I like to see what other college girls are doing, like how they’re managing their time or what else they could be doing outside of school … I just think it’s interesting to see what everybody else is doing,” Vozza said.

Vozza said her videos have changed over the past year due to her gaining more confidence.

“At first, I kind of wanted everything to be perfect,” Vozza said. “I would plan things to do during the day just to make it seem like I was a lot busier than I was. Now, I think I’m just really raw, and I show ‘This was kind of a slow day for me, and this is boring, but this is the reality of my days.’”

Tommy Donahue ’26, a content creator with 15,000 followers on TikTok, said seeing other people’s videos, along with the television show “Entourage,” sparked his interest in creating day-in-the-life videos. For his videos, Donahue plays music in the background as he takes viewers through his typical day, starting with work at his on-campus job in the morning, working out in the gym and ending his night by cooking dinner or going to his night class.

Donahue said his favorite part of the videos is that it is a good way for people he doesn’t talk to often to keep up with him.

“I know that might sound conceited, but it was kind of a way for me to stay in contact with [people],” Donahue said. “They would say, ‘Oh, I saw you went to XYZ. That’s so cool.’ Or it would start a lot of conversations with people who maybe I don’t talk to every day, but I’m still friendly with.”

Grace Potteiger ’28, who does not create day-in-the-life videos but is an avid watcher of them, said she thinks connection is an important part of why people create and watch these videos. It’s the connection that helps college content creators like Vozza and Donahue rack up views.

“I think they’re becoming more popular as a way to show family and friends what you do in the day of your life, especially for people who don’t live necessarily close to their loved ones,” Potteiger said.