2017 is going to be the best year ever! Every December people go crazy about how this year is over and a new year is starting. We make resolutions, set goals, start with good attitudes… but do we really achieve anything? Does anything change?

Not to be rude, but each year people are relieved that the year is over. 2016 was such a bad year. Next year will be better! But will it? Everyone goes through their own trials. We lose friends, our families become more complicated, school work lags behind, summer break may have been boring, the school year got off to a rough start. I get it, we all get it. Bad things happen to everyone. There’s no way around it.

Although, we don’t do anything to change. We feel relieved that this year is over and we have a chance to have a better year. We set goals like ‘I am going to lose weight’ or ‘I am going to do (insert activity) this summer’ or maybe even ‘I am going to fix my grades.’ If nothing changes, if we don’t actually put in the effort to do the things we say or we don’t try to make the best of bad situations then yes, every year we fall short of our expectations.

For me, this year was a rough year. I had quite a few friendship issues, family issues, and my grades just aren’t where they normally are. So yes, I could sit here and say “I’m so glad 2016 is over,” but I’m not going to because despite the bad, there was good that came out of everything.

My summer was spent with plenty of new friends having new experiences. My sister gave birth to a happy, healthy little girl who happens to be named after me. Colleges are accepting me and helping me set up my future. The good outweighs the bad in this year.

Then looking at the bigger picture, it’s not like there isn’t death, war, and suffering all over the world every year. In the U.S. alone we have plenty of issues. In 2012, the Sandy Hook shooting happened. In 2013, the Boston Marathon bombing occurred. 2014 brought out the Ferguson protests and the death of Robin Williams. The Charlestown Church shooting happened in 2015 along with Hurricane Patricia.

There are so many things that compromise a ‘good year’ and it gets frustrating. Having the perfect year is all anyone wants, but it’s an impossible dream. We get dealt some difficult cards and we just need to learn how to play them right and bluff our way through as we look to the bright side.