So much has happened this year whether it be something that has impacted a few people or an event that has changed the lives of millions. Some of these events were good and others bad, but there is no doubt that they were abundant.

One of the best parts of this year for me was you: the 12,157 unique visitors who have continued to visit my website throughout the year. Just yesterday this number was significantly lower when I had checked. I am grateful to have you all as an audience and to have so many of you following my Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube channel as well. In addition to having 12,157 unique visitors, I have had 54,275 views this year so far. For the 2017 year, my goal is to gain at least 10,000 new visitors nearly doubling my current viewer amount. In addition, I promise to post more frequently (at least twice a week) so that you all have more content to read. Anyway, thank you all and, without further adieu, let’s look back at 2016.

Starting early on in the year, I think that we can all agree that the presidential election for the United States has been very notable. Wealthy businessman Donald Trump unexpectedly became very popular early on in the election making himself the Republican nominee. Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state, also gained popularity securing her spot as the Democratic nominee. The election was a rocky road and lasted nearly the whole year. The most awe-striking part being towards the end when it was made clear that Hillary Clinton would win and that Trump had little, if any, chance to beat her. In the end, when November 8th came around, Donald Trump ended up winning the country by a significant number amazing everyone. What makes this year’s election so much more notable than those of years past is probably the outrage and the controversy over it. Even more so, the number of people who weren’t supporting either candidate and disliked both.

In addition to the election, there were events such as the night club shooting and the riots in Dallas over police killings. Speaking of which; police shootings and police being shot were frequent events this year as well. Many questions arose due to these shootings concerning equality and different peoples’ rights.

On more of a positive note, there was also the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this year. Team USA did amazing ending the games with a grand total of 121 medals. Some of the best on our team being athletes such as Michael Phelps and Simone Biles. Also, there was the video that went viral of the US swim team singing together while carpooling to Rio.

In May of this year there was also the killing of Harambe. At the Cincinnati Zoo in May, Harambe the gorilla was shot after a child had fallen into his enclosure due to the carelessness of their parents. The controversy over Harambe’s death is mainly based on the fact that it was the child’s parents’ fault that they ended up in the enclosure, yet Harambe was punished with death for it. Although this was a large deal when it happened, Harambe became a well known meme to teens and other adolescents.

A few large trends this year was the new Pokémon GO app and the IPhone 7. Pokémon GO was released on July 6, 2016 and quickly became a big hit. According to expandedramblings.com, there has been a total of about 500 million Pokémon GO downloads thus far and that there are about 20 million users per day in the United States alone. Also this year the IPhone 7 was released in September. Being that Apple has such a large following the IPhone 7 was a fairly large hit. Of course, the Fitbit was another popular trend this year. People have constantly been wearing their Fitbits throughout the year and comparing steps with those around them.

Another group of instances that are particularly notable are the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones catching on fire. The phones’ batteries have become known for catching on fire and exploding this year. Along with this, there was also the issue with ‘killer clowns’ appearing around the United States causing people much worry. These clowns also hit the internet hard.

Finally, there were also he deaths of a few very popular celebrities this year. David Bowie, well known for his many hit songs including Starman, Space Oddity, and Under Pressure, died on January 10th this year from cancer at the age of 69. Similarly, the very popular Prince died on April 21 this year at only 57 years old. The former first lady Nancy Reagan also died on March 6 at the age of 94 from heart failure. And, of course, the boxing champion Muhammad Ali who died on June 3 at 74 years old.

2016 has been the year of victories and losses and the year of ups and downs. Through all of the issues we have learned to thrive and from all of the good things we have learned to love. Now all we have to do is hope for an even better year for 2017.