2016. A year for the books. Reflecting over the past year is something we generally all do. It wasn't until my friend asked me how I thought 2016 was for me that I actually evaluated the year. Personally, 2016 can be summed up in one phrase: The Year Of Confrontation.

There are tons of memes, Facebook statuses, and finsta posts about how much 2016 sucked. But if we're being honest here, 2016 wasn't much different from many of the previous years. People say 2016 was full of racism, but last time I checked, racism has existed since nearly the dawn of time. People say 2016 was full of sexism, but last time I checked, women have been getting paid less than men for ages. Not to take away from those issues, but we can dwell on the negative aspects of the year (many that are the same from previous years), or we can focus on the good.

I'm not gonna lie, when my friend first asked me how I thought 2016 went, I was gonna say: it was basically just stupid and and I'm glad it's over.

But had I told my friend that, not only would I have been lying to him but also to myself. I'm glad I was asked that question so that I could really think about how the year went for me - and that's how I came to the conclusion that this was The Year of Confrontation.

For understandable reasons, the word confrontation typically has a negative connotation attached to it. I can see why some people think of brawls or big fights in courtrooms when they hear the word confrontation. But on the other end of the spectrum (the much calmer end), confrontation is a good and healthy thing.

Looking back on this year, I've said and done things that I never would have had the courage to say and do before. Sometimes it's not about being comfortable and complacent and just going with the flow and agreeing. Confrontation for me was ultimately about realizing that what I have to say is just as important as the outspoken, loud person across the room. When I realized that, it's like fireworks went off inside of me.

I never thought I would be writing for The Odyssey where I'm literally letting people read my deep thoughts that I for so long just wanted to keep to myself. I never thought I would be leading discussions in class talking about current events and of course sneaking the Gospel into the mix. I never thought I would be so open to talk about God to anybody who's listening really.

At the beginning of 2016 I asked God to help me be more bold. And honestly, I forgot I even asked for that for a while. It wasn't until I started to notice myself speaking up more for those who couldn't speak up for themselves, and it wasn't until I started taking more chances with the articles I wrote that I realized, God was answering my prayers.

Basically what I'm trying to say in the mix of all this is that, before you say 2016 was an awful year because you're not particularly happy with who won the election, or you saw something dreadful on the news, ask God to help you to be reminded of the things he's done for you and brought you through in 2016. Whether it be big or small, it had/has the potential of molding you into something beautiful. And for me that's a more bold and outspoken young woman ready to face what life throws at me!