Honestly, thank god this year is almost over. This year was hard and weird. A lot of celebrities died, the Orlando shooting was devastating, the craziest and longest election of anyone's lifetime is over and Trump won, and I am not even going to bother boring you with all of the weird things that happened to me personally and people I know. Let’s just chalk this year up to a year filled with a series of unfortunate events.

Though this year may not have been the best year I’ve ever had, there is a silver lining because I did learn a lot. Looking back, I realize that I found myself in a lot of situations for the first time this year. Dealing with those situations was difficult, but at least now I can say I have a better idea of how to handle them. I’ve never been so involved in politics and had my candidate lose. That was definitely new and a challenge to overcome, but I have tried to have integrity in my reaction to the loss that I shared with many of my peers and fellow Americans. On a different and more personal note, in the Spring I worked part time for someone who was also an acquaintance/friend. Let’s just say, that situation did not work out. In the end, the lessons I learned from that job were beneficial to my professional, and even personal, growth. The reason I wrote an article a few weeks ago about feeling like the world is against us is because at times it’s incredibly easy to feel that way. Especially this year. But the world isn’t against us and the lessons we need to learn in order to grow can be hard and painful at times. One crucial lesson I learned this year was from an unexpected event.

In September, I went to FAU’s annual iLead on the Boca Raton campus. The keynote speaker was Millennial Workplace and Leadership speaker Antonio Neves. I was suspicious of whether or not he was one of those speaker’s who claimed to know Millennials and was more patronizing than helpful. Thankfully he was incredibly motivating and insightful. He said many interesting things, but one story he told is really helpful when it feels like the world is against us. Neves tells a story about how when he was a reporter he had to go to Juno, Alaska for an assignment. He said that it was raining really hard one day, he didn’t know his way around and he was scrambling to get his umbrella open so he wouldn’t get drenched in the rain. In that moment, he realized something. No one was using an umbrella. Neves walked up to a local and said, “Hi, I’m not from here and I noticed that nobody is using an umbrella while it’s raining.” The gentleman he mentioned this to responded with a shrug and said, “It’s just water man.”

...It’s just water. That really stuck with me because I think when we find ourselves in situations we don’t want to be in or feel we shouldn’t be in, it’s easy for those situations to feel bigger and weigh heavier on us. It’s not necessary though because most situations are fairly common and I think a lot of times we forget that. Who hasn’t had a job that didn’t work out? Who doesn’t experience some sort of loss? And who can predict all of the bumps in the road ahead? We’re not alone in the obstacles we face and must overcome in our lives. In a metaphorical sense, 2016 was filled with a lot of rain for many of us, but the good news is that it’s just water. Eventually we can all move on and dry off when the sun comes out again. Reflecting on this year, it’s easy to see how everything that happens in all our lives is a stepping stone to figuring out who we are and what we want for ourselves. Even if we can't see it in the moment.