With Christmas nearly here and the New Year soon approaching, I thought it would be appropriate to look back and reflect upon 2018. Many can agree that there have been high and low points throughout this year. We can all vividly remember the missile threat scare in January. Also, the winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang during February. Last and not certainly the least, the constant threat of the California wildfires. These are just some of the many extraordinary events that have been etched into history.  

It all started on January 13, at around 8 a.m. a ballistic missile threat was sent out. It caused chaos and havoc, people feared for their lives. Saying goodbye to loved ones and praying for the best. But as we all know, it was a false alarm which could have been easily prevented. Governor of Hawaii David Ige said that “the wrong button was pushed”. This event sparked many debates about the safety of Hawaii if there were actually an attack, “would we be ready/prepared?” Many questioned government leaders as to how this even became a problem and why it happened.

During the month of February, the Winter Olympics was held in Peyongchang, and it ran from the 9th all the way up to the 25th. Just like the regular Olympics the Winter Olympics is held every four years. There were many United States gold medalist, one of them being Chloe Kim. She is the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal during the Winter Games. Also Shaun White won gold for men’s snowboarding halfpipe, winning his third gold medal. 

Even though very tragic the California wildfires have been a huge topic throughout the course of this year. With over 8 thousand fires that burned over a million acres. Houses have been destroyed and families are broken, trying their best to pick up the pieces. Many people don’t know that we need wildfires, it is natures way of keeping a forest healthy, they clear dead trees and undergrowth. An estimated 9-13 billion dollars of damage have been caused by the Califonia wildfires. So we must remember to do our part, put out camp first, discard of cigarets, etc. so that this does not have to happen again.

With the years going by it is nice to take the time to look back and to see how far we have come. All the things we have achieved and all the things we have not achieved. Not all things have to be good or go the right way. That is what makes those moments special, it would be nothing without the pain, suffering, and discomfort. We may not realize it at the time but time flies past you in the blink of an eye. So we must capture these special moments, cause you only live once, right?