Of course I’m thankful for my friends and family every year. Every year.

But this year I’ve felt a lot of ups and downs in my life and I’m still going through that emotional roller coaster of 2016. Yet, as the year is nearing its end, I’m starting to look past the instability of the year to see how much I’ve changed and moved on since it began.

Usually, I’m not the type of person to write down or even verbalize what I was thankful for this year. However, this year feels different, because I’ve really felt a shift in my life; as if I were going from one phase to another. A new chapter of sorts, even.

I’ll start by mentioning the fact that I’ve managed to accomplish nearly all of my own small and personal goals. I passed my driving test in the summer and got my driver’s license, finally declared one of my intended majors (after a whole year of anxiety in undecided/undeclared), found a part-time job related to that major, and I managed to finally use my love for writing in a productive way in college (thanks Odyssey).

Now, I remember my freshman year was fun, very fun. I have mostly good memories from my first year (memories that aren’t academia-related). But that’s all they were. Fun. I can’t exactly say I really felt all that accomplished with what I was doing in my life outside of schoolwork, because it was practically nothing. So after experiencing a whole lot of nothing last year and a whole lot of somethings this year, I’m thankful for the sense of fulfillment I have in this moment. I really am.

(Now may I find the strength to continue feeling this kind of fulfillment in the coming years).