If 2016 has taught me anything, it was how to look at the glass half full rather than half empty. A lot has happened in this past year: Brexit shocked the world, Zika took over and Donald Trump's campaign was (surprisingly) successful. At the start of 2016, none of us could have ever guessed what the year would bring us, and now 2017 is here and the possibilities are unlimited again.

Many people had a rough year, including me. Twitter and Instagram were flooded with posts where people continuously expressed how thankful they were that this year was over. Personally, this past year brought anxiety, anger and a lot of problems my way. My best friend and I fought for months, my grades hit an all-time low and I went through one of the hardest breakups I've had to date. For a very long time, I hated 2016. But this past week has helped me reflect and forgive the past year because so many amazing things happened this year. I got into college, which is something I am so grateful for. I traveled to Europe and saw my best friends for the first time in years. I made new friends and built stronger bonds with old friends. All these memories got me thinking about how ridiculous it was to hate the past year of my life.

I had so much to be grateful for in 2016. Although there were tears on multiple occasions, there was an equal number (if not more) of laughs. There are going to be good and bad years for the rest of eternity. That will never change. But what can change is our perspective on the tough times. Rather than looking back and reminiscing on the bad times, we can always look back at the best days of our lives. The past 12 months have brought a lot of pain and suffering for many people, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Our light just happens to be 2017.

As much as I cannot wait to see what 2017 has in store for us, we have to remember that a glass of champagne and a bit of confetti won't magically transform our lives in the blink of an eye. Moving from 2016 to 2017 will be a refreshing change, but we can't just forget everything the past year has brought us. I'm forgiving the past year for all the negativity it brought with it, but I won't forget any of it. It was the year of finding ourselves, and you cannot put a price on that.