I figure we could all use a word of encouragement right about now, so I’ll do my best.

This has been a grueling year, without a doubt. We’ve lost beloved celebrities, friends, and family. We have witnessed rampant destruction, death, and hate in the name of misguided ideals, prejudice, and religious zeal. For myself and many of my peers, this year marked the first national election in which we could vote as adults, and we have weathered an election unlike any we’ve seen before. To say that the results have been contested and chaotic across the nation would be nothing short of the grossest understatement of the year.

Many of us are thinking, “This is what we have to look forward to? This is what the future has in store for us?” And we’ve become understandably discouraged because of it all. Honestly? I can’t blame anyone for feeling beaten down right now. It has been one of those years in spades. And I haven’t even mentioned how college students are feeling right now. For us, the end of Thanksgiving means the beginning of Hell Weeks back on campus as we scramble to finish projects, write papers, and study for finals. We are at breaking point, plain and simple.

But we will survive.

Even though we have lost people we love, if you’re here to read this, we are still here—together. Yes, this year has been a nightmare. But nightmares end, and so will this year. Come January, we will leave it behind and look back at it in the distance of memory and thought. The next year is ours to make of it, whatever we decide. We have been tried and tested, but we are stronger and more determined for it. I’m not saying that the worst is over yet, or that it’s going to be easy from here on out—far from it. But now we know what we will have to do to survive. Now we know how to steel ourselves and finish the work laid before us.

So stay strong, my friends and readers. We are still here, and we are all the stronger for it. We haven't sunk yet, right? So keep swimming. Push on and stick together, for all our sakes. We are stronger together, so let's look out for each other in this harrowing time. We are far from finished yet.