The year 2020 has hit us all hard, no doubt about it. From the COVID-19 pandemic to the countless deaths of famous people that we admire, this year has been rough on all of us. In fact, you could probably go month by month and name disastrous occurrences that have happened. Other years typically have just a few defining events that go down, but unfortunately this year, so many negative things have happened that we simply can’t keep track. But as humans, we continue to push through, hoping there’s a light at the end of the dark tunnel that is 2020. Rather than looking back on the year with a negative mindset, think positive: What’s the best thing to happen to you in 2020?

As humans, it is often no good to reflect on things negatively. Looking back on the year with a positive attitude can give us the motivation to accomplish our goals in the upcoming year. So, I encouraged students to do just that, thinking back on what the best thing to happen to them was this year. While many felt it was tough to really think of anything positive that happened to them this year, they realized that not everything was negative in 2020. Junior Hemin Bhatt said that he was able to use the extra time he had with quarantine to his advantage. “With all the extra time I have now, I made a big leap in my tennis game,” he said.

Even despite the restrictions on our lives due to COVID-19, many students were still able to make the best out of a tough situation. While some students like Bhatt were able to use this unconventional time to their advantage athletically, others were able to do so academically. Junior Carl Alexander was one of these students who found a scholastic improvement this year. “Not much has gone right during 2020,” Alexander said. “But my grades have improved since I’ve been able to focus more on academics, and I have all A’s so far.”

As we move forward into 2021, we all hope for better times ahead. With a coronavirus vaccine possibly in the works, they just may come, nearing a return to our normal way of life. We may be reluctant to look back on this catastrophic year, but doing so in a positive way is definitely beneficial. So once again I ask you: What is the best thing to happen to you in 2020?