2016 was a pretty…interesting year, to say the least. Going into it, I had a lot of high hopes; it was my high school graduation year, the year I’d move to my dream city of Los Angeles for college, a time of milestones and transitions that are summed up in the seemingly distant, yet very present, phrase “growing up.”

Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the past twelve months, then you know that 2016 hasn’t quite lived up to its expectations. From a neutral standpoint, a lot of groundbreaking things have occurred: Brexit, Trump’s election, the deaths of many historical figures, Aleppo, etc. Depending on your stance on things, these events may have been tragedies. Perhaps for some of you, they were victories. For me, though, some of these instances left me in tears and grasping for some semblance of stability and hope as it seemed to flee the 366 days of 2016.

But I’m sure I’m one of many crying out in exhaustion and grief as we’ve closed out the past tumultuous year—so I’m not going to drone on about the negativity.

As I aspire to do most things, I will try to write with joy and gratitude.

I recently started a thread of tweets on my Twitter detailing some of the cool things that happened within my life this past year. Just as there are many posts detailing the low points of 2016, I’m sure there are just as many outlets reporting on the good things that happened this year, in respect to the general public/the world. Therefore, I’d like to expand on my own personally riveting experiences in this past year, from what I’ve already outlined on Twitter.

Let’s start out with some major points—the aforementioned milestones. It’s been a sad few days (weeks? months?), so I hope you don’t mind me bragging a bit about myself here.

I graduated high school on May 25^th with a weighted 4.18 GPA (heavy, exhausted sigh) after maintaining a cumulative 4.0 throughout all eight semesters of high school. Literally the night of graduation, after the ceremony, I jumped on a bus with my classmates and made the seven-hour trek down to Disneyland for Grad Night (though it was during the day). I’ve only experienced Disneyland with a friend once or twice, but not with my close high school friends, so I had a blast.

A month prior to graduation, I stayed overnight at my current school, Loyola Marymount University, for a program designed for incoming Asian/Pacific Islander students. Here, I made several key friends that built the foundation for my current friend group at LMU (shout out to my LMU AZN Squad fam!) and found myself at home. Upon returning home to Sacramento, my family slapped the deposit money down and I formally committed.

Madison Foote. Screenwriting major. Class of 2020.

I moved in on August 26^th with my awesome friend Abby (who I found through Facebook/a group chat for film students) and started to “go it alone.” (You can read back through my experience in this old article from then.)

Those were the major milestones of the year. But I’ve been up to a lot besides that!

I cut my hair the shortest it’s ever been back during my spring break in March. Gotta pat myself on the back with that one—it was a cute hairstyle, a bit like a bob. My friends were very supportive.

I continued exploring my Filipino culture! I discovered my affinity for the traditional “tinikling” dance at my high school’s Filipino club, Pearl of the Orient, back in January when we learned and performed a routine. Four years of participating in this club led to me continuing my Filipino adventures in college, namely through LMU’s Filipino club, Isang Bansa, where I’ve since performed a tinikling routine once again. Taking a page from Greek Life’s book, I was assigned an “ate” (literally “big sister” in Tagalog, a twist on the whole big/little system of Greek Life and other clubs) and twin who both share the same affinity for memes as me, so I have lots of fun there! In general, I’ve made more Filipino and Asian friends than I’ve ever been able to before (thank goodness for LA and LMU’s diversity!), which is just incredible to me.

Speaking of memes, I was “elected” (I guess?) to be one of the princesses at my Senior Ball back in May, just a week or two before graduation. Memes are relevant here because they acted as a bridge between me and many of my classmates during senior year, who I didn’t really know until those last few months of the school year. WAKE ME UP (WAKE ME UP INSIDE)! Also, one of my closest friends was elected as a princess, so it was super fun getting to wear matching crowns. Thanks, cool classmates. :)

I made a Pikachu at Build-A-Bear (a childhood favorite store of mine—even now, still a favorite!) back in January. He came to college with me, naturally. During February, I celebrated the 20^th anniversary of Pokemon by buying a New Nintendo 3DS for myself. Then, of course, there was the Pokemon Go phenomenon in July. For those who didn’t know, the app literally came out on the same day as my wisdom teeth removal. As you’d expect, it’s hard to play the game from your couch, but it’s alright—Pokemon Sun and Moon, the latest installments in the Pokemon franchise, released for the 3DS in November and I’m convinced they might just be the most fun Pokemon games ever.

I’ve found joy in a lot of other media this year besides Pokemon. We were graced with a sixth season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic during March and are now waiting for the start of season seven.

Captain America: Civil War came out in May and it was just as awesome as I’d hoped it would be; I saw it three times! (Though, if you’ve read mylatest article about Moana, this number is probably laughable to you now.) My favorite Avenger, the Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, played a key role in the film, as Scarlett Johansson was listed third in the credits, only behind Chris Evans (Captain America) and Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), the two most prominent characters.

If that wasn’t enough female empowerment for the year (which is ironic, considering the election results), around July, CBS revealed that Paget Brewster would be reprising her role of Agent Emily Prentiss on Criminal Minds —my favorite character and personal inspiration in terms of girl power before I discovered Natasha in Brewster’s five-year absence from the show—in the current season. Not only that, but after Thomas Gibson’s (Agent Aaron Hotchner, leader of their team) sudden firing in August, Emily Prentiss was upgraded to the leadership role in his sudden absence. (She now stands front and center in the main shot of the team during the opening credits.) Once again, you can imagine how excited I was about that.

In September, as I was adjusting to life in college, I started binge-watching Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe out of curiosity. I was met with a cast of strong female characters that drove the plot, acted as role models for the young titular character of Steven, and a kids’ show that was able to represent same-sex relationships and handle mature themes without once batting an eye. From there, I found the character of Pearl to be my personal favorite—only to discover she’s voiced by Deedee Magno, a Filipina-American actress. Cue loud screaming as I hold up my various Pearl figures in pure delight and empowerment.

To top off all of these amazing experiences as a woman of color, Disney released Moana in November, and, well, I’ve ranted about what makes that movie wonderful and powerful in two different articles now. All you need to know is Moana herself is a very empowering woman of color and I’ve seen the movie six times in theaters now.

Looking back on what I’ve written here, touching on only some of the things I mentioned on Twitter, 2016 wasn’t actually all that bad. There were a lot of objectively sucky things that happened, sure, but as for personal victories, I’ve achieved a lot. This year enabled me to communicate with you, here, through this platform of Odyssey Online. I embraced my love for writing with full affection this year.

I may have lost a lot alongside my different triumphs, but that’s okay. That’s what life is all about, anyway; it’s too short for things to happen any other way. It’s hard, but it’s just the way it is. 2016 giveth, 2016 taketh away. Whatever. You don’t scare me.

I’m ready to jump into 2017 with my head high, my Pokemon collection ever-expanding, my favorite female characters pushing me through the rough patches as I watch them overcome their own struggles, and my smile bright.