Taking the city by storm, a new wave of the ice bucket challenge has emerged. Back in the summer of 2014, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge had millions of people pouring buckets of ice water over their heads to spread awareness for ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a neurodegenerative disease that results in muscle weakness and paralysis. This challenge even had celebrities in on it, like Oprah, LeBron James and Bill Gates.

Now, in 2025, a slightly different challenge is gracing the Instagram stories of many. The USC Mind Ice Bucket Challenge is now the biggest craze. The same parameters are at play, you get nominated by a friend, use the hashtag and tag the USC Mind account in your video, nominate three others and then pour the water on your head.

USC Mind is the University of South Carolina’s Mental Illness Needs Discussion club. Its mission is to break the stigma surrounding mental health, foster support and advocate for suicide prevention in their community. They believe in the power of open dialogue and daily mindfulness. You can read more about them here.

The trend started around two weeks ago when it was brought to Rome, then it spread like wildfire across the Upper School campus, with day and dorm students participating. Some students not only nominated their friends from Darlington, but also spread the challenge even more by nominating other kids from different schools.

“I was nominated by sophomore Nora Knaak. I nominated two of my friends from Model and Armuchee because I wanted to spread the challenge around more,” Freshman Kaitlyn Keeling said, continuing with how excited she was to participate.

“It was exciting to be nominated by my friend, but I was definitely a little scared to do it because my water was freezing. It felt good to help out a good cause.”

Students from all different grades got involved, like junior Toby Burns, who is also the future student body president.

“I did the Ice Bucket Challenge because I was nominated by Charlie Jackson. I nominated Hayes Parsa, Grayson Clark and Mr. Ledbetter, who is Henry’s [Ledbetter] dad,” Burns said.

Burns was one of few who got adults involved in the challenge along with kids. Another example is junior Felipe Selle, who nominated Upper School Spanish teacher, Mario Cantin. The Ice Bucket challenge made its first rounds in 2014, then again in 2025, so will it make a return again in the future?

“I think the challenge got popular because it gives people something fun to do that they can share with other people,” Burns said.