2021, the year that was promised to be full of positive change and the return to pre-COVID-19 normality. In all honesty, COVID-19 is still around and it seems like just another 2020. However, there are a few notable changes and events that have taken place over these long 12 months.

January

“New year, new me,” said just about every person before they started a diet that only lasted till February. What a way to start off the year when former president Donald Trump incited what some have referred to as a domestic terrorist attack on the United States Capitol on January 6. These acts of violence caused him to become the first-ever US president to be impeached twice. Trump’s plans to overturn the election didn’t work, resulting in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris being inaugurated on the 20th; Kamala Harris becoming the first-ever black, Indian, and women vice president of the country. A first step in the direction for women empowerment, America. 

February

The month of love. It can’t be worse than January, right? Well, within the first two weeks, the burning hot state of Texas just about froze completely. Over a multi-day temperature drop and snowstorm, the heat-loving citizens of Texas found themselves with frozen pipes, large icicles inside their living rooms,  an abundance of new-found snowing hills. It seems like an Ohioan’s paradise, but not quite a Texas senator paradise. On the same day that his own state was placed into a state of emergency, Ted Cruz, Texas senator,  decided it would be an excellent time to take a relaxing trip to the snow-less island of Cancun. Meanwhile, in February, the NASA rover lands on Mars. Even though it left in 2020, the robot did not provide itself with adequate quarantine upon arrival and went straight to work running tests for scientists back home. The other lab coat-wearing scientists in America made a discovery of their own. The Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was finally approved.

March

Luck of the Irish, right. Not for us. The WHO [World Health Organization] announced that COVID-19 can now spread through animals. So now not even the family dog is safe. In reality, though, maybe one of the biggest events of the month was the killings of Asian women at massage parlors that sparked the “Stop Asian Hate” campaign. Their goal, similar to BLM, was to create awareness for the minority that has been wrongly blamed for starting the pandemic. On a better note (unless you’re the Queen), Megan and Harry finally got together to interview with Oprah Winfrey on television. They exposed the royal family on a variety of topics including the racist remarks that caused them to leave the family. What became the most humorous event of the year, though, was the Suez Canal crisis. The large cargo ship somehow managed to turn diagonal and get itself stuck between the sides of the waterway that it’s been through countless times. Without much of a surprise, the people of the internet thought they were the experts and heavily suggested just pushing the ship over a little bit to straighten it out. It didn’t work. It ended up taking multiple days to get the ship out. 

April

Prince Philip has passed away. Honestly, a lot of people thought the royal family was immortal but apparently not. For the first time in his life, the prince became an internet sensation as an enormous number of young Americans who had barely even heard of him mourn his passing. On a brighter note, Derek Chauvin was finally convicted of the murder of George Floyd. He received 22 years in prison and can receive a form of early release even before that. Maybe in his time out of jail, he can get a COVID-19 vaccine. As long as it isn’t Johnson and Johnson because their vaccine was just paused for blood clot concerns.

May

In 2020, this was the time of year that Ohio opened back up. Instead, 2021 used this month to allow children 12-16 to receive the Pfizer vaccine. With that new vaccine, China is now allowing couples to have up to three children. If two screaming toddlers weren’t enough, now you can get another one and you don’t have to hide it from the government. One thing you still can’t do is fill your gas tank without going broke. The national gasoline was taken over by hackers and has temporarily stopped the country from getting gas. Thanks to everyone’s favorite social media platforms, suburban moms and just about everyone else rushed to the gas stations and stockpiled gas in any container.  Seriously, there were reports of people taking gas in old Walmart bags. 

June

In the Pacific Northwest, this is the hottest it’s ever been. Temperatures have reached 115 degrees which is much, much hotter than the winter-loving city of Portland can handle. Also, only 156 years after the original date, Juneteenth has become a national holiday. The holiday celebrates the ultimate end of slavery in America. On the topic of change, the NFL received their first ever-active player to come out as gay. Carl Nassib, the defensive end for The Las Vagas Raiders, decided to take a stand and help encourage people all over the country to do the same. 

July

Thought Jeff Bezos was wealthy? Think again. He’s extremely wealthy. This month, he took a very interesting-shaped rocket to space for a trip around Earth that only lasted four minutes. It only cost $5.5 billion dollars. For other celebrity news, Simone Biles decided to pull out of the Olympics to save her mental health. Somehow, people still decided to criticize her. It makes it seem like some people still don’t believe in supporting mental health. Probably one of the biggest events of the year, however, was the pull out of Afghanistan. The transition began in July and finally ended in August. Although right-leaning people have long supported this, they were the first to heavily criticize Biden for this decision.

August

Remember when that New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, won an Emmy for his dealing of the coronavirus? Well, that was a mistake. Cuomo had to step down as governor due to an abundance of sexual harassment allegations and creating a hostile work environment. As expected, he lost his Emmy and was replaced by New York’s first female governor, Kathy Hochul. In terms of natural events, Louisiana was hit by a category four hurricane. Unlike Katrina, the city of New Orleans was barely damaged and people could quickly go back to preparing themselves for Mardi Gras. Haiti, however, was greatly damaged by an earthquake that killed over 2,000 people. Not the best scenario.

September

If Texas didn’t flood the news enough earlier in the year, it sure did now. The cowboys down in the red state created an abortion ban that doesn’t allow for women to receive any abortions after six weeks. If you find someone who had an abortion, they will be heavily fined and you will receive a hefty bounty. Speaking of fines, R Kelly was also convicted and imprisoned for a number of crimes. These include such accounts of racketeering, sex trafficking, and the sexual exploitation of a child. Meaning, it might not be morally right to continue to listen to “I Believe I Can Fly,” anymore. At least people over 65 can receive their third COVID-19 shot now.

October

Facebook. It’s still restricting Trump, but it has a new company name: Meta. Zuckerburg claims that rebranding is a way to create and sell more products and services under one name. Zuckerberg will also need to change some things on what he has now, though. A former employee, Frances Haugen, known as the “Facebook Whistleblower”, came out and said that the company is responsible for teen and youth depression and mental illness. Supposedly, the company has known about this for a long time and has done nothing to change. On the bright side of things, the Pfizer vaccine has now been approved for 5-11-year-olds. They hope this will further limit the spread within schools.

November

Conservatorship is finally over for Brittney Spears. After years of bright pink “Free Britney” flags and numerous court hearings, the pop star can go back to running her own life and continue to make music. On the topic of women empowerment, Kamala Harris became the first female to hold presidential power while Biden was under anesthesia for a colonoscopy. It only lasted 85 minutes, but that is a first step for a country that has never had a female president. Apparently, this is the month of courts because Kyle Rittenhouse was officially acquitted. The teen was originally charged with fatally shooting two people until the court decided that it was not an act worthy of punishment. Another famous celebrity, Travis Scott, had also gotten himself into a lot of trouble. In November, he hosted an over-filled concert that lead to eight deaths and countless injuries. Reports of the event range from over-heating to involuntary injection. 

December

Christmas is finally here unless it’s Fox News. The people of this far-right news platform are up in arms about their large American-themed Christmas tree being burned outside headquarters. Even though it was simply caused by a homeless person, Fox believes it was an act of politics. In the natural world, Kentucky was hit with massive tornados that swept across the state. It was so bad that Biden committed to covering 100% of cleanup-related costs with federal money.

For a Chardon resident, most of these things seem out of reach, but, in reality, it all comes down the ladder and every person is affected. The knowledge of the world and national events can almost always be contributed to by the decisions of the people. Whether it’s a soldier coming back to Ohio from Afghanistan or someone’s grandma getting a vaccine, we are all connected.

2020 was awful and 2021 was something special. Will 2022 be “the year?”