OPINION: 2016 Was The Year of Realization
2016 was the year of Harambe, Trump, and the overdone mannequin challenge. 2016 was the year of realization, as Kylie Jenner predicted a year ago. As much as I (and 300 million other Twitter users) would love to bash Kylie for such a seemingly stupid statement, I can’t help but agree. For me, 2016 was the year of realizing that I am capable of spending $250 in Cougar Cash over the span of two months. It was the year of realizing that the freshman fifteen is very real and that I need to run my fat ass to the gym next semester.
It was the year of realizing that bad vibes truly are contagious and that I needed to surround myself with people that encouraged nothing but positivity. 2016 meant something different to each and every one of us. To some it meant realizing that we are truly capable of anything we put 100% of our effort into, while to others it might have meant realizing that Frank Ocean’s album was kind of… not really… completely not worth the wait.
Now maybe you can’t relate to any of these realizations, and you wouldn’t be alone. That’s why I spoke to a couple students and found out what their own personal realizations were this year.
Senami Morris, psychology major: This year I’ve realized the importance of developing connections with various people and maintaining the connections [I] already have. Connections are essential to developing a well-rounded approach to everything. The
deeper the connection the more secure you feel in your perspective because you have acquainted yourself with various ways of dealing with situations. Now I think of every friendship or relationship I have as an opportunity to learn something new. Whether it be good or bad, it’s a brilliant learning experience.
Alexa Chukwuma, English major: This year I realized that I am enough. Even when I'm tired, even when I break out, even when I under-perform, I am enough. I realized that at times I can be my own worst critic when I should be my greatest supporter.
Sara Hancock, music and math major: One thing I realized over this year would be that making a leap forward, even an uncertain one, has unexpected positive results. The leaps that I've made personally this year have yielded changes that I could have never predicted, and yet they were completely necessary for my happiness. I think this applies to any large change, even those that seem only detrimental; there is always some positive outcome, however obscure.
Ademide Adepetun, business major: I realized that the biggest killer of dreams is the darkness of fear and that we are only afraid because of a lack of light, which is
knowledge. I learned that we actually don't think for ourselves and have internalized a lot of society's definitions and ways of going about things, and I began redefining things for myself and my capabilities. If you are capable of having an idea, a thought ... you can bring it to life no matter how audacious ..it's a matter of actually starting, something a lot of us fail to do.
