Contrary to the popular internet fad of proclaiming your undying distaste for 2016, and hoping it would come to a quandary of moribund fates, I loved 2016. To me, I will always remember 2016 as a year of firsts, a year of growth, a year of discovery, a year of love and a year of happiness.

Now yes, I will admit there were some unfavorable moments of 2016. The person I wanted to become president did not become president. The world experienced fresh bouts of immoral acts and unnecessary killing. Beloved icons came to pass (Gene Wilder and Carrie Fisher really took a hit to my childhood). Family members of mine experienced tragedies. I ended up in the ER on the last day of my finals.

But none of this ruined my year.

Yes, these are considerably shitty things, but that doesn’t mean this entire year was horrible. There were only unfortunate moments mixed in with the happy ones.

I will forever consider 2016 to be one of my favorites. I’ve been writing short stories and plays prolifically this year. I graduated high school as the salutatorian of my class. I got to spend a summer working with one of my best friends and got to spend quality time with my mother. In the late summer/early fall, I started my first semester of my freshman year at Champlain College.

I found my dream school — a place I truly wanted to be in. I met two people I truly want to be friends with for the rest of my life (Erika Brown and Margot Nelson). I have gone on adventures that not only brought me joy, but brought me new fodder for my writing. I got to, once again, be Maeve Sullivan in the play "Blue Stockings" by Jessica Swale, my favorite role I took on in high school. I attended some of the most enlightening classes of my life, and have entered the major I know I am supposed to be in — Professional Writing. I’ve gotten the opportunity to publish my writing every week through Odyssey, and even get practice in the career I want after college (aside from being an author) as a Contributing Editor for my community. And, of course, I met a guy with the same humor as me; who is always truly and unconditionally kind; and who always makes me completely and utterly happy, no matter what.

I loved 2016, and I don’t think just because a few bad things happened is cause enough to entirely write the year off. Bad things happen every year, not just in 2016. Yet, there are people who are treating 2016 like it was the apocalypse.

Just because people are saying 2016 was bad doesn’t mean that you too have to go along with this trend. Don’t let people convince your year was bad because of reasons A, B and C. Even if there was just a moment that you enjoyed about 2016 — maybe it was a person, or maybe a class you took — that’s one element of the year to appreciate. Be realistic: even when the world seemed like it was coming to an end, you still had moments — even if they were brief — of happiness.

To say a whole year was horrible is a rather large generalization. Look at your year more critically and with an open, positive mind. You smiled at least once during the year. You laughed, you learned something new. We have to appreciate our experiences, the good and the bad — but we must remember to not forget one when we analyze the other. Remember the good, remember the bad, and I guarantee you can learn something from 2016.

So before you jump on the negative bandwagon and just conclude 2016 was dreadful, I ask you to take a moment to be open-minded and really think. Something made you happy during the year, and once you link 2016 to those memories, it doesn’t seem like such a bad year after all.