I’m sure by now you’ve all heard from friends, family and the internet that 2016 was “a terrible year” and “needs to be over.” After days and days of negative comments bombarding my news feed regarding the horror that was 2016, I finally stopped to think about what it was that really made 2016 so terrible. All of us can think of multiple events that made this year not the greatest, but the pervasive negative attitude perpetuated by social media the past month has made 2016 more of a villain than it actually was. Every year, not just 2016, tragedies happen domestically and abroad affecting all sorts of people. While it is important to recognize the gravity of the consequences that often come with these events, dwelling on the negativity of the year is only going to make things worse. So, I have chosen to take some negative things from my year and explain how I found the positive side of each.
Early 2016: Since the beginning of my senior year of high school NYU was the dream. Everything about it intrigued me; the city, the incredible business program, the study abroad opportunities, the internships. There honestly was not a single thing I did not like about that school. In early March I knew my decision was coming soon, and I was hesitantly optimistic, I thought I had a chance. As I was sitting at a restaurant with my family around the middle of March I got the email. I ran to the bathroom to check the email only to read those dreaded words, “We regret to inform you…” and I knew exactly what that meant without reading another word. I was devastated, my dream for almost a year was crushed by one single email. I let one school’s rejection throw me into complete confusion about my future despite having quite a few other great options for school in the fall. Following my rejection, I realized my laser focus on NYU had made me completely disregard schools I had written off as “safety schools,” and forced me to reconsider. The most appealing part of NYU was the city environment, and after reevaluating my options I realized USF in San Francisco offered a similar city lifestyle. So after doing more research I realized USF had all the same features I loved about NYU, but way closer and at half the price, that’s a win in my book. So, in the middle of April I made my decision to commit to USF and haven’t looked back since. I can safely say today, after my first semester at USF, that deciding to attend USF is the best decision I have ever made.
June 2016: Everyone knows the end of any period of your life (high school, college, job) can be absolutely miserable, especially when the end is getting close. I struggled quite a bit at the end of my senior year, I was so ready for college and to just be done with that period of my life. I had trouble relating to anyone and I felt alone in how I was feeling, until the last few months of school. I made friends with people I never thought I’d connect with. I realized that they were experiencing the same problems and feelings I was experiencing. Those friends I made at the very end are the ones I’m closest with today. So in my misery is where I found my closest friends and can see myself still being close with 20 years from now.
Summer 2016: The summer before college is arguably one of the weirdest and most confusing times in my life. You’re done with high school and ready to move on from that chapter, but you’re not quite in college yet, you don’t really have a place. That summer a lot of my relationships with friends changed, and it made me focus more on myself. My choice to focus more on myself before college was hard at first, I felt lonely and confused. As summer dragged on, I became engulfed in planning for college and learned everything I could about the city I was about to call home for the next four years. I got really into calligraphy and watercolor painting and no longer felt lonely, but happy being alone. As summer came to an end, I realized how far I had come from the beginning of summer, and I couldn’t be happier now with some tough choices I made that summer. It kick started my path to self discovery and since then I’ve learned more about myself than I ever thought possible.
September 2016: The start of college brought on a whole new set of challenges, not necessarily with classes, but just learning how to live away from my parents in a completely new environment. Before school started I requested to live in a double with someone I found on Facebook and in the end I got thrown into a triple with someone I didn’t know nor had ever talked to. For many this doesn’t sound too scary, but for me the unknown element of a third roommate caused me a lot of stress. The day I moved in she seemed nice and was totally okay with me taking over way more than my fair share of the room, which was an added bonus. As September went by I realized how awesome that “scary random roommate” was, and she is now one of my closest friends. The situation that caused months of stress turned out to be one of the best parts of starting college.
October-December 2016: Being sick in college is the worst. I learned that pretty quickly when I got sick in September and couldn’t drop it until only a few weeks ago. There’s no more mom to take care of you or the ability to miss class without it affecting your grade whatsoever--a simple call to the front office is no longer good enough to get an excused absence. My professors made it very clear the only way you get excused from class is if you’re in the hospital literally bleeding to death, and I wasn’t quite at that level. So despite feeling like my body was slowly withering from the inside out, I forced myself to get up, go to that 8 am class, and then blow my nose every two seconds and have a few cough attacks mid lecture. When you get home from class you have to get your own food and medicine and still do all your work so you don’t fall behind. The whole situation was painful to get through but it taught me a lot of lessons I will carry through college even when I’m not sick. First, self care is very important. Taking breaks and sometimes just letting yourself sleep is essential so you never get to the point where you’re so sick you can’t even get out of your bed. Second, prioritizing what you really need to do is the only way you can get enough sleep to fend off those nasty colds and other viruses. Last, through being sick I really learned what it’s like to live on your own and do everything for yourself. At college everyone is worrying about their own problems and work and there’s no one to take care of you--self sufficiency is crucial. So, even though being sick my entire first semester of college was difficult, I learned a lot about what it really takes to live and thrive on your own.
Now, these are just some experiences I had this year that tested me but ultimately led to something good. They are all small in comparison to what other people have experienced this year, but it is my hope that my small victories of positivity inspire you to find the positives that emerged from the negatives of this year. Best of luck in 2017!
