Idea borrowed from Monc__E :)

 2017 has had it's fair share of troubles, just like it always does. There's always going to be some positives and some negatives. But I'm not here to reflect on worldly troubles. I'm here to discuss my personal life. 

  First, the positives. This year has helped me out in a way. I made new friends and met a wonderful guy, who is now my boyfriend. While I did lose some of my most valued friends, I gained new ones that made my life even more special. I don't think I'll ever forget them. My boyfriend has even made my life special. Because of him, I feel more comfortable with myself. I have a good body image, I'm trying to fix myself instead of moping around, and I'm becoming a little less shy. 

 This year has also given me some trials that has helped me grow as a person.In 2016, I joined JROTC as a reserved, however I started from the very bottom at a disadvantage. Throughout the school year, with little help at first, I managed to rise a little but I still felt bad compared to how others did. Whenever I finally got into the class, I was full of anxiety due to feeling like I had to be perfect since I was a reserved. However, while this was always in the back of my mind, it began to ease as 2017 went on. Even though things were rough for me at first, things got better and I began to grow both in JROTC and in my personal life. 

  During the summer, I went to the Citadel for the Cadet Leadership Course, which was almost like basic training condensed into one week. It was fun, but I often found myself alone. My friends were there, but I was separated from my boyfriend due to his CADRE status and my friends were all together in different flights. I had one of my friends with me but it didn't help that I was constantly getting angry at him during that time. I learned how to motivate myself to do things, how to work as a team, and how to be a leader there. I also learned how to grow from feedback, although whenever I needed it, there wasn't much I could be given or was given. 

When I returned to school, I found myself confused and stressed. MYP Sophmore year has its challenges. Quickly we were introduced to everything that was expected of us. We had to have our community and service done by this school year as well as a personal project, which started off and still is a bit bumpy. The classes were significantly harder, such as Pre-Calculus and German. Because of previous habits, at first I did not study for the classes, but as time went on, I realized that I needed to step my game up. I soon began to study and help myself when it came to stress. In JROTC, I had to step up and be a leader to my Color Guard team, which I was now the deputy commander of. This also brought stress that I needed to control. I also had to worry about the team as well as my classes. This year has taught me how to manage my time wisely, whether it be for my classes or extra curricular activities. 

Now, the negatives. This year, while good, still brought some negative things with it. My laziness often brought conflicts with my family and peers. My laziness also resulted in me losing all of the physical strength I spent months obtaining. This year also resulted in me worsening my short temper. These are things that I need to improve on in 2018. Hopefully, I will be able to. 

 I feel like 2017 has helped me out a lot and has been a good year for me personally. Hopefully I can spend 2018 with all the new friends I have made and have a good year with them.