2016 was one roller-coaster year.

The world lost icons like David Bowie, Prince, and most recently Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds. Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States. Race relations intensified with the shooting of Alton Sterling, among others. The Syrian and Yemeni people suffered more than most of us could ever imagine.

2016 was also a roller coaster for me, personally. I graduated high school (go class of 2K16!), started my college career, had my heart broken not by boys but by time; I survived my first semester of college and made friends I know will last a lifetime.

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My immigrant parents never understood the fuss Americans made over New Years. They didn’t understand the cause for celebration, the excitement of this thing called New Years, the craze behind the Times Square ball drop. To this day, my mother falls asleep at 9 P.M. on New Year’s Eve. If I’m at a friends house for a party, one of my parents will stay up until I get home safe, but otherwise, they’re fast asleep by 10.

But I always admired the New Year’s spirit. The New Year means new beginnings. It means a fresh start. It means leaving all the negative behind and taking all the positives along for the journey ahead. When that ball drops, there is no looking back; there is only moving forward.

Moving forward is hard.

It’s hard to leave the bad stuff in the past. It has the tendency to creep up on us no matter how hard we try to move forward. But moving forward is the only way things get better.

So here’s to 2017.

Here’s to a better year. Here’s to moving forward, and getting better!