Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

With the coming of the new year, it's time to bid this year goodbye. We say goodbye to the various news stories of the year and a few fads. For some people, the coming of the new year can mean the coming and going of various times/things in their life (including myself) . Some things, of course, remain constant including our crappy economy and the beauty of high school [insert comment here]. 2011 has been an interesting year for a variety of reasons and in a variety of ways. and I have mixed feelings about seeing it go.
This year has been a roller coaster for me. It started on a rather down note, I'll admit and as of January 2011, I was a very unhappy eighth grade girl with low self-esteem and a best friend in the high school. That, fortunately, changed. As of the end, I am now a happy freshman who is able to be fulfilled mentally and emotionally in a high school setting (much to my surprise) and has a decent amount of friends (most of which go to my school).

I have to admit I had a lot of milestones. I went to high school for the first time, got published in Teen Ink, started a blog, got interested in some stupid celebrity case for the first time (the Casey Anthony trial), got involved in my first debate... I'm sure that there are even some more important ones that I'm leaving out here too.

It's been a great year for a lot of other countries too, especially those in the Middle East. A lot of ugly dictators were brought down in Arab Spring and, telling from the uprisings in Syria, may still be brought down. For this country... Eh, not so much. We're technically out of a recession and Wall Street is doing well but for the majority of Americans? Well. Not so much. With the quelling of Occupy Wall Street by the government and the media (a movement they totally misrepresented, I suspect), any change in the system is probably not going to happen.

I suspect that by now people are quite upset about the resolutions that never ended up being fulfilled, resolutions that will probably become this year's resolution. My three resolutions are to finish The Face Behind the Mirror, the novel I've been working on forever, finish that goal of losing ten pound since I started exercising (I've lost seven) and make some more friends (also, maybe a boyfriend would be nice though I don't have the best feeling about that). I also hope (not sure if this counts as a resolution) that I continue to challenge things, take risks that I'm scared as hell to take and to live life to the fullest.
Of course, I'll be kind of sad to see this go and a little scared to venture into slightly new territory. Yet what can I do?

This year will bring forth a lot of opportunities, as the beginning of all things bring. Hopefully the majority of people take advantage of those opportunities and don't just let another year pass by hoping for something they need to put the incentive in. Hopefully, I will be a part of that majority and not a part of some sad excuse of people.

Also, let's hope to I get in my New Year's resolutions and a bunch of awesome things in before the world ends (just like my oh-so-humble-and-super-intelligent sister says will) next December.