This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Utah chapter.

An Ode to 2020:

Honey in champagne glasses

rimmed with salt – seeping into fresh wounds

dulling the pain

and washing away

a sky full of stars

Thank You, 2020

you son of a bitch.

We all grieve the year we have lost.

From starting the year off with losing the legend, Kobe Bryant, to anxiety-ridden trips to the store hoping to get your hands on toilet paper amid a pandemic, to police brutality and the passionate protests that followed, to losing the notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg- a trailblazer for women’s rights, to ending the year with the most stressful election of our time and everything in between, (hurricane winds, earthquakes, power outages, etc.) 2020 chewed up and spat us out and repeated this process a couple of hundred times. All thing being said, some really great things happened this year and I’m here to remind you of some of the things you may have overlooked.

1. Americans Found Comfort in Furry Friends

With more Americans working remotely from home, pets became the perfect companions! Pets not only help reduce stress and anxiety levels but they also make the best cuddle buddies and are your permanent kitchen vacuum cleaners!

2. Tik Tok

My biggest flex to date is being able to say that I am not on Tik Tok lol! But all jokes aside I still get my Tik Tok content from Instagram and this app may have single-handedly saved 2020. From dances that are impossibly hard to mimic to drinking cranberry juice while riding a skateboard- Tik Tok has given us all the quarantine content we need.

3. Highest Voter Turnout

The 2020 election had the highest voter turnout in 120 years!! It was so good to see people practicing their civic duty and using their vote to create change at local and national levels. Over 153 million eligible voters voted in this year’s election!!

4. Harry Styles’ Grammy Nominations

I am on a watermelon sugar high right now! Harry is not nominated for one Grammy, not two- but THREE!! The gods have spoken! The beautiful Mr. Styles is nominated for best pop vocal album, best pop solo performance, and best music video!

5. First Woman to be Elected as Vice President

Regardless of who you voted for, this is historic! Never in the U.S’s history have we had a woman in this position. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be a trailblazer for young girls and girls of color everywhere. This moment was much overdue and I am so excited to see what she accomplishes now that we have finally broken the glass ceiling.

6. The University of Utah Reached a Settlement with the McCluskey Family

Speaking of things that are long overdue, the University of Utah reached a settlement with Lauren McCluskey’s parents. In this settlement, the university agreed that Lauren’s death could have been prevented and agreed to rename The Center for Violence Prevention to The McCluskey Center for Violence Prevention in her honor. This center opened in August and aims to educate students and conduct research on relationship and sexual violence.

7. Zoom

As much as we love to hate on Zoom University, this platform has allowed us to stay connected in the classroom and outside of it. Many of us will be celebrating the holidays apart from family and friends because we will be social distancing and this platform is going to make sure that we thank Grandma for that ugly sweater she got us for Christmas!

This year has not been easy by any means and it’s difficult not to get caught up in all the negativity- but this is just a moment in time that will pass. I think 2020 has been us all pretty damn resilient and it has restored my faith in humanity as much as it has made me question it. This year has been a year of growth and self-reflection, as well as a year of grief but if we can make it through all of the curveballs 2020 has thrown at us, I know we can make it through anything!!

An Ode to 2020