A Year in Review; The Best Things About 2021

After the sheer terror of 2020, 2021 has been a strong recovery year. Slowly but surely, the world is returning to a state of normalcy as people continue to protect themselves from COVID. As 2021 draws to a close, let us review all the positive events the year has brought to us in hopes of even stronger and more “normal” years ahead:

Kamala Harris Elected First Female Vice President: While we are trying to keep this review free of political bias, nobody can deny how groundbreaking it is to have a female serve as Vice President for the first time in American history. It represents girl power in the world of politics and promotes feminism, reminding us that we can accomplish anything, regardless of gender.

Derek Chauvin Found Guilty on All 3 Accounts: After the death of George Floyd in 2020, outrage hit the street as citizens protested against the police, thus raising awareness of the police brutality occurring in the United States. After being pleaded guilty in his trial back around May, Chauvin has been sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. The trial also provided evidence that Chauvin “had attempted to suffocate a 14 year old black woman to death back in 2017”. 2021 provides reassurance that murderers will be found guilty of murder, a thought which we hope will continue into subsequent years.

Awareness Spread About the Vaccine: While the Trump administration created the vaccine for COVID before leaving office, President Biden was the one who advocated for Americans to “get vaccinated”. Through vaccine mandates and constant reminders from the Biden administration, more vaccines are being created and more Americans are getting created. According to GitHub, about 61% of Americans are vaccinations with over 80,000 doses delivered every day. As such, more crowded events are reopening to those vaccinated and Biden assures America that, once fully safe from COVID America will return to normal.

Caillou Is Banned From PBS Kids: Remember that bald spoiled brat from your childhood who complained about literally everything, but always seemed to get his way? His name was Caillou. As of 2021, Caillou will no longer be airing on PBS Kids and new episodes will only be shown in Canada, where the show is from. While episodes of Caillou are still shown on Cartoon Network, most appear to be reruns (Cartoon Network is going downhill anyways). Why bother having your children watch Caillou when Arthur is still airing?

Tokyo 2020 Olympics: After the cancellation of the Olympics in 2020, 2021 brought back the event in Tokyo, Japan. Events included basketball, volleyball, and bicycling amongst both male and female groups. Thanks to the Olympics, celebrities such as Simonne Biles are increasingly in popularity again and women’s sports are being represented again. The United States emerged victorious with China and Japan coming in second and third, respectively. The Olympics reminds us that in the coming years, we can move to a time where we are, as the motto of the Olympics states, “Faster, Higher, and Stronger”

Adele Releases New Album: After being inactive since 2015, Adele finally releases her next album: “30”. The album includes powerful and emotional songs such as “Strangers By Nature”, “Cry My Heart Out”, and “Can I Get It”. Each song portrays memorable lyrics and conveys various meanings. In “My Little Love”, for example, Adele is depicting describing divorce to his son through lyrics such as “I wanted you to have anything I never had” and “I am so sorry if what I have done makes you feel sad”. Lyics such as these are very relatable and help us survive the rough times of 2021.

While 2021 may not have been the year we expected it to be, it is still a reminder to “hang in there” as America slowly returns to normalcy. While it is unknown what 2022 has in store for us, we continue to pray for more improvements and reform. Happy (almost) New Year!