As the new year approaches, it’s commonplace to look back at the year we’ve had and sum it up. A ton of great things happened in 2015, and we saw our fair share of tragedy as well. While it’s important to look back and reflect, it is also exciting and hopeful to look ahead at some of the amazing things 2016 will bring.

First off, it’s a leap year!

Leap years are by nature more exciting than normal years. Everyone knows that. We get one extra day of fun. It should be everyone’s goal to find a friend with a birthday on Leap Day (February 29) because they most likely have the best birthday parties every four years.

There are a ton of big names going on tour this year.

Adele, Justin Bieber, Madonna, Selena Gomez, Mumford and Sons, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Springsteen, Lana del Rey and a ton of other big names are touring throughout 2016. There are also some big album release dates falling within the next year and we know a lot of artists are heading back to the studio as well.

A TON of space activity is scheduled for 2016.

NASA’s spacecraft http://science.nasa.gov/missions/juno/Juno will reach Jupiter after 5 years of traveling there. And guess what? It’s supposed to arrive on the fourth of July. How patriotic is that? In addition, the European Space Agency is sending an unmanned spacecraft to Mars to learn more about a possibility of former life. Most interestingly, Russia has been in talks to open the first http://guardianlv.com/2014/07/space-hotel-set-to-welcome-guests-by-2016/space hotel, which will only cost $1 million per guest! Seems like a steal when you realize that you could be Zenon for 5 days. While the hotel has been described as having “great views of Earth,” there’s no alcohol served on board so you’re going to have to think long and hard before booking this vacation.

A transit of Mercury in front of the sun will take place in May.

Mercury will be seen as a black dot traveling across the sun, as the planet comes between the Earth and the Sun. The last May transit was in 2003 so this event is somewhat rare! We also have another supermoon coming up in November!

The Summer Olympics will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

There has been some drama over Rio being ready to host the 2016 Olympics, but hopefully everything will be ready for summer. Summer Olympics include swimming, track and field, soccer and basketball. More importantly, the summer events include events you never knew were part of the Olympics such as canoe slalom, badminton and synchronized swimming. Everyone knows though that gymnastics are one of the best events in summer to watch. Start practicing your cartwheels now.

The class of 2020 will start college!

While this may not seem like a big deal, it still seems crazy doesn’t it? It makes me feel old and I’m only two years older than those kids.

Of course, America will elect a new president in 2016.

This coming year will be even more full of election talk than 2015 was, and it seems clear that this race will be quite the battle right to the finish line. While many people aren’t interested by politics, they may be excited to finally stop hearing about the candidates and their antics.

Hopefully 2016 brings a year of peace and progress worldwide. Let us all go into the new year feeling refreshed and optimistic about the months ahead. They should be great!

Happy New Year!