2016 can be simplified into one word: rough.

This is not just because of the presidential election, no matter what side you are on, but there are many horrible things that happened this year.

• The Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando.

• The terrorist attack in Nice, France.

• The death of David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Prince, Muhammad Ali, Christina Grimmie, and so many more.

• The fact that the death of a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo was turned into a meme that got 11,000 votes in the presidential election.

• Britain leaving the European Union.

• The Syrian Refugee Crisis.

I could go on, but I am quite frankly depressing myself and probably whoever is reading this. Plus, there were some good things that happened in 2016 that deserve a mention.

• The wild tiger population increased.

• Giant pandas are no longer endangered.

• Zika is no longer considered a global health emergency, but is now classified to chronic threat level, which means strategies to contain the disease are working.

• We are getting closer to the HIV cure.

• The Ice Bucket Challenge actually helped fund an ALS breakthrough with the discovery of a gene that causes ALS.

• 55 countries signed the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

• A solar powered plane went around the world without any fuel.

• The Cubs won the World Series after 108 years.

• Leonardo Dicaprio won an Oscar.

You could probably look up more good things that happened this year with a single Google search, but the main idea is that not everything is all bad. Life is always going to have its downs, but we eventually recover because we remember what we are fighting for. So, my wish for the New Year is that we recover.