(COVINGTON, La.) — A new year and decade provides a possible new beginning for many, but exists as a let down for those who expected monumental changes.

Late psychologist and astrologer Jeanne Dixon was convinced that the biblical prophecy of Armageddon would take place in 2020. A 1957 Popular Mechanics article predicted that all American roads would be replaced with a network of tubes lessening the amount of power the car needed for long distances by 2020. We are not vacationing on the moon, voting at home, or out of oil as others projected.

While fictional views of the current era have been proven incorrect, other views were spot on. In Ray Bradbury’s 1953 dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 the characters hear things and are entertained through seashells placed in their ears. Think of today’s wireless earbuds. In 1998, physicist Michio Kaku said that people would be wearing computers by 2020. Smart watches have proved this to an extent. 

Computer science, physics, and civil engineering teacher Rachel Peak explained what she thought 2020 would be like in 2010. She joked that she hoped it would be similar to the 1989 movie Back to the Future 2 in that there would be self driving and flying cars. Peak predicted that there would be more “robotic type things” in the everyday household. She also figured society would not have as much conflict against each other as it does. “It is disappointing that as a society we can’t get along better,” Peak said.

But what did St. Paul’s hope to be by 2020?

29-year staff member Sergeant Don Presley said that St. Paul’s has “done nothing but improve yearly,” especially academically. “The school had 300 (students) when I started. It now has 900,” Presley said. He said that the school has not exceeded his expectations, but met them. He predicted the same kind of success in the future.

Biology teacher John Carambat is also impressed with how St. Paul’s has developed. He said that when he first started working at the school, he thought it would remain the same through the years. While he thought that the “goal of teaching” at St. Paul’s would stay true, Carambat said that he was surprised by the major construction the school has undergone. He said he believed only minor physical changes would be made, such as the repainting of walls and repair of old articles, which is why he is impressed by the new buildings and structural additions.

What the new decade will provide is unknown, but that does not mean new predictions will not be made every day.