Dear 2016,

What an interesting year you were. On January 1st, I wished and hoped (as I do every year) that this would be the best year yet. While the wish has come true in previous years, I’m not quite sure that my wish was received this time. You had your ups, and you had your downs.

You were a big year for me. I turned 21. That was pretty exciting. I actually went out to celebrate with people and had a great time, even though the whole “party scene” scared me at first. I took my first family vacation where we were able to enjoy a drink poolside. What a vacation that was! That was one for the books that I’ll never forget.

Speaking of trips I’ll never forget, this year, I took a trip by myself for the first time. I booked a flight, got on it alone, and went to visit my best friend. If someone told me last year that this would be the year I would go on a trip by myself on a plane, I would’ve laughed. Although I was nervous, it turned out to be the biggest highlight of 2016; something I'll be talking about for a long time.

You were also the year that convinced me to take a huge step as a performer. For so many years, I was terrified to branch out of school musicals. I didn’t even think of the possibility of doing community theater. I did not have the confidence to believe that I was good enough to make it into any show outside of school. I saw a post about auditions for one of my favorite musicals, Bonnie and Clyde, that a local theater in New Jersey was doing. I knew I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. For some reason, I had a burst of confidence. I went into the audition room and for the first time in my life, I walked out of an audition smiling from ear to ear, so proud of myself. I ended up getting in, and performing in the show. I still smile just thinking about it. This is definitely my favorite memory from you.

You were a huge Broadway year for me. I saw TONS of shows, and these shows brought me closer to my best friends. I spent the weekend with my best friends watching Finding Neverland give their final bow. Part of me is mad at you for taking my safe place away. However, you lead me to another great show that has become a safe-place for me. You also lead me to On Your Feet! This show became my rock and my light, when you decided to throw curveballs my way at the end of this year.

Boy, were you tough towards the end of this year. You were testing my anxiety like crazy, and you still are. I knew going into my senior year of college that things were going to be tough. You challenged me with the hardest semester yet, in which my hardest work was still not good enough. I finished with my last semester living at college, and leaving was such a surreal moment. You brought a lot of anxiety this year which stopped me from doing a lot of things. I wish you didn’t. It makes it so hard to focus on the positive events you had for me this year.

You were also quite the year for politics. Everywhere I turned, there was news about this election. It was probably the most important election yet. You gave the opportunity to have a woman run for president. As a female, I’m glad the world got to see that girls could to what guys could do. However, you let us down with the election results. It has caused so much corruption in the country already, and he hasn’t even taken office yet. So much has changed because of the election, all the way from January to now.

Overall, you had the ups that I’ll never forget and you had some pretty low downs. I normally get sad saying goodbye at midnight, but I think it’s safe to say I’ll be okay this time. Thank you for all of the memories.

Love,

Amanda